


Flood and Flame

by Asellas



Series: Saecula Saeculorum [4]
Category: Ghost (Sweden Band)
Genre: And I mean LOTS of feels, Angst, Blood and Gore, Child Abuse, Death, Dismemberment, Ghouls are not human, M/M, Mating Bond, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Minor Character Death, Multi, Murder, Rituals, Rough Sex, ghoul orgy, lots of feels, ritualistic death of a child
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-15
Updated: 2018-10-18
Packaged: 2019-07-12 10:45:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 23,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15993584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Asellas/pseuds/Asellas
Summary: The past is what defines them, molds them into what they are.(A story on how Blaze and Rain came to be themselves, and become further entwined with each other.)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It got away from me. So, so far away from me.  
> I wanted an excuse to write an orgy scene, and the plot that I began poking at grew larger than the porn. Again. You'd think I'd have learned my lesson by now but nope, I haven't. Apologies?
> 
> This first chapter is all flashback and setup. Next part will be all the delicious porn, with plenty more feels. Because I apparently like writing things that make me sad. I guess.
> 
> NOTE: In Rain's flashback, he isn't referred to having a name because he doesn't get one till Blaze names him much later on (which is written in my other fic [Ashes in the Water](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15775422)). In case any of it is confusing, or anything.

**I. Flame**

 

“I don’t like it,” Blaze rumbles, letting his tail stroke down the long stretch of her thigh. Azure giggles at him, tugging gently on his braids as she winds the new beads she had found into the thick coiled black hair.

“It won’t take long, two or three days at most,” she croons, leaning forward to mouth at his ear. Blaze shudders, huffing out a breath.

“I should come with you, things have been turbulent.” He fidgets on the couch, tail thumping against the cushions and he has to remind himself not to scratch the leather with his claws.

“You know they need you here,” Azure murmurs, running a finger down one of his horns, “with Alpha away, you’re the strongest fire ghoul in the church. You need to be there to protect the clergy if needed.”

“I need to protect _you_ ,” he insists with a snort. His mate laughs, voice sweet and rich, and nuzzles at his neck.

“They won’t even know we’re down there. Only the few of us even know where we’re going. We’ll be back before you know it.” Azure finishes attaching the last bead, running her claws gently over his scalp, making him shudder and purr at the sensation. She then scoots down, molding herself to his side, nosing at the fabric of his cassock stretched tight across his chest.

“When I get back, I want…” the end of the sentence is muffled as she presses her face into his clothing.

“Hmm, what was that,” Blaze asks, running a hand through her long, wavy tresses, admiring the dark color of them against her lighter skin.

“I want a… a kit,” she breathes, laying her head against his chest, feeling and listening to his pulse speed up, watching him with wide, hopeful eyes.

“A… we can’t, not here. You know that,” he says, feeling like his stomach is doing flips.

“We could go back, just till it’s born, then bring it back with us. Raise it here at the church,” she pleads, “they’d let us, you’re too valuable to risk angering you.”

Blaze stares at her in wonder, his heart filling with love for his mate. He reaches down and pulls her up, settling her higher in his lap so he can lean down and kiss her hungrily.

“Anything you want, dear heart,” he whispers against her lips, and she pulls away to beam at him.

“We can practice, for now,” she giggles, wiggling her hips and grinding down on the bulge that was quickly forming in Blaze’s pants. Blaze snorts a laugh, fingers already working fast on the buttons of her cassock.

\--

His heart lurches, clenching hard in his chest. Blaze gasps, pushing away from the table he was sitting at so quickly the heavy chair falls over with a thud, startling the other ghouls nearby. He can’t determine details, only knows that something is _wrong_ , that _mate is hurting, must protect mate_. He lurches from the room, breaking into a run as he barrels through the hallways, oblivious to the startled gasps and cries of the brothers and sisters he pushes and shoves out of his way. He kicks open the door to the ritual chamber, the sisters and cardinals in attendance around the shimmer portal gaping at him and he snarls, jumping through the portal into the depths of hell. There are shouts and calls after him but he ignores them, intent only on the throbbing in his soul, a terrifyingly odd emptiness beginning to creep into his chest. He goes on instinct, stalking the caverns, letting the flow of energy guide him to the place he wanted. The cave is dark and he growls, flexing his claws and bringing fire to his palms. The scent is faint, almost undetectable under the stink of sulfur, but he knows it intimately, could pick it out from hundreds of other scents.

 _Mate. Mate was here._ Growling deep in his throat Blaze gathers power, syphoning the ambient energy till he feels as if he’s glowing, overfilled with mind-searing heat that rakes at his soul. He snarls, slashing claws through the air, sending the collected power down through his hands to tear at the veils separating the two realms. There’s more shouts behind him, screams as the ground shakes violently as he tears a portal open by pure force. He ignores them and steps through into the jungle, the air no cooler and humid, sweat immediately breaking out on his skin.

The second his feet settle on the dirt his heart lurches again, soul screaming in agony as the emptiness explodes across his senses.

_Gone, she’s gone. Mate, where is she why is she gone what is—_

The world tips and tumbles as Blaze staggers, panting for air as he stumbles blindly through the underbrush, following Azure’s scent through the stench of green things and smoke, blood and death. He doesn’t even notice the area around him, trees torn to pieces, the ground upturned and churned to mud, corpses lying in the filth. None of it matters but for the small figure he finds curled up near an uprooted tree. At first, he’s almost convinced she’s just sleeping, exhausted from the battled that left no other survivors, yet her chest does not ride and fall, her hands clutching at something at her chest. He drops to his knees heavily at her side, pulling her gently into his arms.

Her eyes, once so beautiful, glittering in a myriad of shades of blue, richer and brighter than any cut stone, were now dull, lifeless.

His heart clenches, he can’t breathe. Something wet hits his face, and he finds that he’s crying, tears hot as they drip down his cheeks, the first sobs breaking from his throat. He’s barely able to wrap a shaky hand around the hilt of the dagger that lies buried in her heart, yanking it free and tossing it into the brush. He brushes a lock of her hair from her face, keening quietly before curling up around her, pressing his face to her cold skin and sobbing as the soul-deep agony tears at his mind.

When he lifts his head he finds that the area surrounding him is aflame, burning hot and bright. Glancing down he finds Azure’s body blackening and crumbling in his arms from the heat and panics, tries to grasp blindly at the ashes that begin to drift away on the updrafts. Unable to catch them he throws his head back and screams, sheiks agony to the void as he loses hold on his elemental powers, the flames shooting high and engulfing the area hungrily.

The ground rumbles in the distance, smoke beginning to pour from the nearby volcano.

\--

Blaze growls, pulling at the chains holding his arms above his head. The cuffs bite into his wrists, the burns breaking open to let blood drip down his arms. He’s been locked down here for an unknown amount of time, deemed too powerful to banish back to hell, but too dangerous in his crazed state of mind to keep unbound.

“That won’t help,” Quinn sighs, pushing his cowl back and removing his mask. Blaze snarls at the ghoul, pulling hard on the chains.

“You,” Blaze snarls, baring his fangs at the quintessence ghoul. “Fuck off, you divine piece of shit.”

“Tch,” Quinn sneers, spitting on the floor. “And here I thought to come down to offer you a favor.”

Blaze goes still, narrowing his eyes at the other ghoul.

“Favor? What could one of _you_ even begin to offer me,” he growls, studying Quinn’s scarred face. He’s unique among the quintessence ghouls, all of them having looks that are more accustomed to smiling and offering comfort with him being the exception. His skin is peppered with silvery lines of long-healed scars, wide nose flat and crooked from one too many bad breaks, spiderwebs of broken blood vessels blooming across the right side of his face to mix into flesh that was almost waxy from being burnt and melted. His heavy brows are more used to scowling, thin lips always turned down as if he’s kept in perpetual disappointment. Quinn’s purple and gold eyes study Blaze with a half-lidded gaze, a smirk beginning to form on his lips.

“We are in something of a similar mind, you and I,” he begins, and Blaze coughs a harsh laugh.

“Like _fuck_ we are, you pathetic excuse of a ghoul. I’ll tell you again, fuck off.”

“As I was saying,” Quinn goes on, rolling his eyes at the venomous interruption, “we are both after a similar goal. You want to hunt down the one responsible for your mate’s death, and I want to destroy any divine being I can get my claws into.”

Blaze bites off the retort he had on the tip of his tongue, eyeing the quintessence ghoul closely.

“Your kind don’t do violence, I thought. Only as a last resort, defensive thing,” Blaze asks, Quinn sneering at the suggestion.

“If you hadn’t noticed, I’m a bit… different, then my brothers,” he states, examining the sharp points of his claws almost disinterestedly. His gaze snaps back up to Blaze’s, the purple and gold gleaming bright in the dim light of the dungeon. “I want them all to die, to suffer as I have suffered, to let them burn to ash as they plead for mercy. If I have to do it one angel at a time… well, it’s a good thing I’m immortal. Our powers can do more than heal, in case you were wondering.”

The vehemence of the quintessence ghoul’s voice was something of a shock to Blaze. The other four quintessence ghouls were more for forgetting the past that they could no longer remember, instead throwing all of their newfound life and energy into bolstering the church and giving aid to their fellow ghouls. That one still harbored quite a hatred for their heavenly brethren, to the point of wanting to hatch some kind of scheme with a separation-crazed ghoul such as himself…

“Tell me about this… offer, you spoke of,” Blaze grins, bearing his fangs.

\--

Glamor wasn’t one of his strong suits. He could manage the basics to hide his claws, tail, and horns, but beyond that he had to have a glyph drawn by someone else to use. Instead, he preferred stealth, hiding in the shadows to stalk his prey.

“ _He’s the one that tipped them off, he’s been a double agent for some time now. I’ve a list of his associates to go give a visit, I’ll leave him for you to do with as you please,_ ” Quinn had said, leaning down and speaking quietly to Blaze where he’s tucked away in the corner of the library, seeming to read a book. The clergy had been watching him closely in the few months since Quinn had advocated for his release, claiming Blaze to be stable enough to not fall into a rampage. The promise of revenge was a constant reminder to keep himself under control; one slip and he’d be chained back in the dungeons, his mate’s murderer left to go free. Even the mere thought of it makes his blood boil and he has to bite back a growl.

Blaze is hunkered down behind a hedge, blending seamlessly into the shadows. His prey had slipped out from the church in the dead of night, stealing away into the city to slip into a dark building. Blaze had followed, caring less about what he was doing and more about tearing the man to pieces when he emerges. He has enough sense to at least let the man leave the building and walk a few blocks away, keeping pace silent in the shadows till he begins the walk up the road back to the church.

Blaze purposely steps on a fallen branch, the dead wood snapping loudly under his foot and making the cleric’s head jerk around. He squints into the dark woods, not seeming to be nearly as afraid as Blaze wanted. Blaze lets his fire thrum through his veins, eyes glittering like firelight in the dark. The cleric flinches when he sees the flaming orbs through the leaves though he stiffens his spine.

“Ghoul, you know you are not allowed out of the church at night,” he admonishes Blaze haughtily. Blaze grins, letting the sparse moonlight glitter on his exposed fangs.

“Neither are you, brother,” he responds smoothly, stepping out from among the trees. He can smell the brother’s fear, acrid and sour on the wind, sending a thrill through his blood.

“You’ve no place to speak to me so,” the brother hisses in outrage. “Go on, back with you. Sister Imperator will hear of this.”

“I don’t think so,” Blaze chuckles darkly, advancing slowly on the human, flexing his hands as he goes. The cleric pales and stumbles back from him, throat working as he swallows thickly. “Will you give me a good chase, brother? Will you beg and scream for me?” Blaze walks a lazy circle around the terrified man, waiting to see if he’ll run or try to defend himself.

“I warned you ghoul,” The brother growls, raising a hand to sketch a glyph, to draw upon the power the church gives its higher members to control any unwieldy ghouls. Blaze lunges forward lightning fast to grab hold of the clerics fingers, giving him a cruel smile before snapping two with a quiet ‘pop’. The brother gasps in pain, eyes going wide and the words of power failing him.

“I don’t think so,” Blaze purrs, delighting in the man’s terror and pain. “I’m going to take my time with you, make you regret what you’ve done.” Blaze leans in close, his mouth at the brother’s ear to hiss, “ _I know who you are, I know your masters, I know you killed my mate!”_

Blaze snaps his fangs down on the brother’s earlobe and yanks his head, tearing the cartilage from his body and splattering blood across his face. He spits it away and pushes the cleric to the ground as he cries out, straddling his hips to grin maniacally down at him.

“Go on, call for your angelic guardians to come save you,” Blaze goads, laughing mirthlessly. “ _I’ll burn them to fucking cinders!_ ”

He hooks claws into the soft flesh of his arms and pulling down, shredding skin and cloth alike like paper, making the cleric howl in pain. Blaze brings the fingers of his right hand to his mouth, licking at the blood dripping from his claws. He hums, savoring the salty, metallic taste as he rises to his feet, taking a few paces back and motioning at the brother with a bloody claw.

“I’ll make a deal with you. If you can make it back to the church before I catch you, I’ll leave you free to say whatever you want to the Sister. I’ll even give you a few minutes head start,” Blaze purrs, sitting back on his heels and smirking at the cowering human. The brother seems to think the words over for the barest moment before scrambling to his feet and taking off down the road, panic fueling his speed. Blaze stays true to his words and waits, watching the clouds shift and allow pale slivers of moonlight to cast the area in an eerie, silvery glow. He stands and shrugs out of his cassock, tossing it to the gravel with the rest of his clothing, letting the cool night air dance over his naked skin. He takes a deep breath, scenting the brothers blood on the wind and grins, eyes glowing like bonfires as he throws his head back and howls, loosing himself in the thrill of the hunt.

The branches and brush slap at him as he tears through the forest, smoke pouring from mouth and nostrils. The brother has almost made it to the castle gates, his strength finally beginning to flag from blood loss. Blaze puts on a burst of speed to head him off at the gates, then just as the brother nears them he pounces, tackling the human to the ground and chittering in delight. Blaze grins wide, showing off a mouth full of ghoulish sharp fangs, no longer glamoured to be blunt human teeth. He titters as the human screams, lets him thrash as he can as he digs claws into the flesh of his chest, tearing at pieces of cartilage and bone cracking him open to expose his heart. Though the man can’t make more than choked coughing sounds through the agony his heart thumps loudly, Blaze trilling softly as he runs a claw gently down the shuddering muscle. He croons a quiet prayer to his unholy lord and the soul of his deceased mate as he caresses the brother’s heart, shivering lightly before opening his jaws wide and lunging forward.

He feasts, revels in the agony and slow and of the traitorous creature beneath him.

Blaze devours the heart first before burrowing into the soft flesh of his belly, pulling out long, steaming ropes of intestine that stink as his claws puncture their walls. He finds the man’s liver and worries at it with his teeth, tearing off a chunk and devouring it, reveling in the bloody taste of it, heavy and metallic on his palate. He titters as he drags his claws lower, grasping his scrotum and crushing it in a fist before ripping it from his body. The brother makes a louder wheezing sound, still alive through his heart has been torn apart and eaten. Blaze throws his head back and shrieks his thanks and devotion to his dark master, exalting his name for answering his prayer to let this pathetic mortal live till Blaze has torn his physical form to shreds.

\--

“I see you had quite a… productive night,” Quinn snorts, shouldering into the old storeroom Blaze had hidden himself in after extracting his revenge two nights previous. He sets the bucket on the floor, tossing a sponge into the water and motioning for Blaze to make use of it. The old fire ghoul snorts, stretching before beginning to scrub at the gore died to his skin.

“Unfortunately, his… associates, have been harder for me to get ahold of than I expected. If you would be willing… I could use your help,” Quinn says, leaning against the wall and folding his arms over his chest. Blaze pauses, dripping red tinted water onto the stone floor.

“Did they put you up to this? Trying to dangle something in front of me, hoping I’ll follow it like a horse follows a carrot on a stick?”

“Hah,” Quinn huffs a sardonic laugh, rolling his eyes. “If you’re so keen on following your mate to the beyond, I’ve a knife you can use to open your throat. I’ll not judge.”

Blaze narrows his eyes at the quintessence ghoul, tilting his head to the side.

“ _They_ don’t talk to me, include me in their schemes,” the quintessence ghoul sneers, spitting on the floor. “My mission and I are afterthoughts to the clergy, more hinderance to their plans than a help. They think I’m content with the scraps they throw my way on occasion. No, I want more than that, but I can’t make it work on my own. With you, though…”

“A partner in crime, then,” Blaze chuckles. He has no way of knowing if the strange quintessence ghoul is lying or not; he knows they are not known for being liars but at this point he’s not so sure about Quinn doing anything typical of a quintessence ghoul. If it were a ruse by the clergy to keep Blaze from ending himself and banishing his soul to the pit, then it was a clever one.

“Fine, I’m game,” Blaze shrugs, going back to washing the cakes on blood and viscera from his skin. Quinn actually manages to look taken aback, thinking he would have to do more to entice the fire ghoul to his scheme. He eventually snorts a laugh and gives Blaze a toothy grin.

“Well then, let us get to hunting…”

 

* * *

 

 

**II. Flood**

 

He remembers his mother only vaguely, mostly images of her thin skirts, the way she would hover possessively near him when they would go out amongst the clan. The brightness of her smile and the bitterness of her disappointment.

On his sixth birthday he remembers being taken to the sacred pools, a knife cutting into his palm before an old ghoulette takes his arm by the wrist and thrusts it into the murky waters. It burns and stings but he stays still as instructed, his blood streaming out till the water is tinted red and his head going light.

 _“Now, call it_ ,” the old crone instructs as he blinks up at her. He glances down at the water, tilting his head to the side before wiggling his fingers above the pool. A small, shaky tendril rises a few inches from the surface before collapsing with a plop and the crone snorts, spitting to the side.

“ _Not worth our time_ ,” she mutters, turning to leave as he catches sight of the panicked look on his mother’s face. He flicks his wrist, snapping his fingers and a series of tendrils thicker than his arm shoot from the pool, grasping the old ghoulette around her arms, legs and middle, dragging her bodily into the pool. She flounders for a moment before she can extract herself from the tangled watery ropes, pulling the water from her clothes with a flinging motion of both hands before placing her hands on her hips, glaring down at him. After a moment she snorts, the tiniest hint of a smile curving on her lips.

“ _Cheeky little thing, aren’t you. Such power… You’re going to be quite the devious ghoul in the future, won’t you?_ ”

\--

If there is one thing he learned to do best, it was disappointing someone.

“ _You can’t let them just push you around,_ ” his mother sighs, wiping at the tears and snot dripping down his face as he cries, elbows and knees skinned and bleeding from being pushed down a hill by a group of kits.

“ _You’re powerful, you need to show it to them. Then they won’t hurt you anymore,_ ” she says, cuddling him close. He snuggles into her warm embrace, sniffling quietly. He knows this, has been told this many times, but he can’t find it in himself to stand up to them, finds it so much easier to just let them do what they want.

\--

The happiest day of his life that he can remember is the day he meets Lux.

He’s sitting in a cavern filled with mossy rocks, bioluminescent mushrooms casting an eerie blue light about the walls. He’s humming to himself as he scuttles about, looking for pretty rocks to add to his small collection when he hears another kit titter quietly. Jerking his head up, afraid he was about to get beaten up for the third time in the past few days, only to find a single ghoul perched on a boulder nearby.

“ _What are you doing down there,_ ” it asks, trilling inquisitively at him. He hunches forward, trying to hide the handful of rocks in his palm.

“ _Nothing,_ ” he mumbles, flinching away when the kit comes close, peering at him with wide eyes. They’re thinner than he is, gaunt flesh pulled tight over delicate bone structure, dirty skin pale and matted hair darkened with soot and dirt.

“ _You’re the one they all push around,_ ” it states and he drops his eyes to his feet, worrying at his bottom lip with his teeth.

“ _Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you. They do the same to me, too_ ,” it says brightly, beaming at him. He gives the kit a strange look, a kindred feeling rising at he looks over the thin figure.

“ _My name is Lux, what’s yours,_ ” they asks him, sitting back on its heels.

“ _Don’t have one, not till my thirteenth birthday,_ ” he mumbles, then holds out his hand, opening his fingers to show off the rocks he had found. “ _I found these… do you think they’re pretty?_ ”

“ _They’re lovely! Want help finding more,_ ” Lux chirps, thin tail swishing in delight. He grins at his newfound friend, happy for the first time that he can remember.

\--

“ _It’s a scrying mirror,_ ” Lux chatters, running thin fingers gently over the carved stone. “Go on, you can touch it!”

He runs the tip of a finger over the carved swirls and runes, tracing the interlocking designs winding about the edge of the large disc.

“ _How does it work,_ ” he asks, looking at it curiously. Lux titters and caresses the shallow bowl of it with a loving gesture.

“ _You fill the basin with water, and I call the aether to reflect the future onto the surface,_ ” Lux explains, chirping brightly.

“ _Oh, you need water. Wait here_ ,” he says, skittering through the small crevice they had squeezed through to find the tiny cavern that Lux called his home. He’s able to trace the quiet whisper of the stream to another crevice nearby, making sure no one is watching as he hunkers down and calls the water up through the cracks in the stone. He gathers enough to form a large ball and jogs back to the tiny passageway back to Lux.

“ _Is this enough,_ ” he asks, grinning at the astonished look on the pale kits’ face. Lux chitters excitedly and nods, letting him gently set the floating orb of water into the bowl. It fills it nearly to the brim and the two kits crowd around it. Lux begins to sway gently, eyes going unfocused and the colors rapidly shifting, blue turning to gold turning to purple and back again, the small water ghoul transfixed as he watches them intently. The surface of the scrying mirror clouds then shimmers brightly with a light from within, silvery clouds blooming across the still water.

“ _Hm, nothing today,_ ” Lux mumbles some minutes later, the light fading from the mirror. “ _It happens, sometimes. The aether isn’t always talkative. Maybe tomorrow we’ll see something._ ”

\--

“ _Stay away from that kit, it will only bring trouble on us,_ ” his mother hisses when he asks to take some roasted mushrooms to his friend. He shrinks back from her anger, dropping his eyes his feet and hunching his shoulders submissively. He sits back in the corner of the room, staring forlornly at the floor, bringing a finger to his mouth to chew on his claws absently.

\--

“ _It’s fine, I understand. No one likes us but you it seems,_ ” Lux sighs as they snuggle together. It had become oddly cold the past few days and the small kit was shivering when he had managed to slip away to come visit. He curled around Lux, trying to share what little heat he had with the pale skinned ghoul. They end up falling asleep, waking sometime later to a loud rumbling. They panic, clinging together and keening when the stone crevice cracks further and parts till it’s a large sized opening. A tall earth ghoul shoulders through, pushing the stones to mold further into the walls and let him through with ease.

“ _Found them,_ ” the earth ghoul calls, and his mother comes rushing in, grabbing him by the arm and jerking him away from Lux.

“ _You’ve been gone for over a day, I thought you had been hurt or worse,_ ” she wails, chattering at him harshly. She pauses, her eyes darting over to Lux still cowering in the corner.

“ _What did I tell you about that thing,_ ” she hisses, dragging him away by his arm. Outside there’s a group of other water ghouls from his clan, apparently a search party that had been looking for him. His mother chitters quietly to a larger ghoul, quiet so he can’t overhear. She then drags him back to their home, not letting him out of her sight for more than a moment.

He wonders, as he chews on his claws, staring at the spidering cracks in the wall, if he’ll get to see Lux again.

\--

He does, one last time.

His mother wakes him in the middle of the night, chattering at him to get up and follow her. He scrambles after her, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, blinking blearily as he follows her outside. They walk along the twisted passageways, the darkness oppressive around them and he clings to his mother’s skirts. They come upon the sacred pools, a heavy fog draped over the dips and valleys of the huge cavern, giving it an eerie feeling that scratches at the back of his head. They head to the back of the cavern and through a small hidden passage to another cave, this one also huge and lit with thousands of small bioluminescent plants, though their faint light isn’t enough to see the walls or the ceiling through the inky darkness. The walk toward the center, finding a group waiting for them, all carrying torches that gave off a sputtering light and filled the air with the scent of burning pitch.

He cowers behind his mother, chittering softly, though she pries his hands from her skirts and pushes him to the center of the group. He nearly falls as he stumbles, hunkering down and wrapping his arms and tail around his legs. The ground, he finds, is inscribed with a pentagram, carved into the stone instead of drawn. He has a horrid, sinking feeling when the assembled group begins to chant, feeling the ambient power come surging forth as they called to it. He whimpers, trying to shrink back away from the creeping tendrils but there is no escape from something that can’t be touched, can only curl upon himself and try to pretend he was elsewhere.

The surge of power finally stabilized, making the air feel alive with static, crackling as he breathes it in, and the chanting falls silent. Hands grasp at him and pull him to his knees, scraping skin harshly on the stone ground and making his hiss softly. They hold him steady as the circle opens on the end opposite and a small, pale figure is dragged onto the pentagram. He keens quietly, heart lurching as Lux thrashes, tying unsuccessfully to free themselves from the steely grip of the water ghouls. A ghoul steps forward from the circle, fingers tracing glyphs in the air as it intones the next words of the ritual. The power spikes, making him flinch back, Lux crying out as one of its captors dragging its head back by his hair. The ghoul finishes his chant and pulls a dagger with a wickedly curved blade from a sheath at his belt, brandishing it with a flourish and speaking a word of power. He holds out his other hand and another ghoul places an ornately carved bowl in his palm.

His heart races, breath catching in his throat as the ghoul approaches Lux, the blade glinting in the torchlight. Lux is forced to their knees, the water ghoul kneeling before them, chanting quietly as their neck is bared. The dagger is help up against the pale, proffered throat before being jerked to the side, a line of red blooming bright across the taut skin. Lux makes a choked off sound, eyes going wide as their lifeblood cascades in a red waterfall from the opened vein on their neck. The ghoul catches the blood in the bowl, setting the dagger aside and motioning with its claws, using its elemental power to call forth every ounce of blood in the small kit’s body, filling the bowl to the brim. The light fades from Lux’s eyes, the little amount of color in their skin bled out, making them seem like a statue carved of ivory. They shudder as the last drop of blood fills the bowl, life snuffing out like a candleflame in the wind.

The ghouls release their hold on the now lifeless body, letting it fall gracelessly to the floor. He can’t make a sound except a terrified whimper when all attention is again locked onto him. He begins to shiver violently as the assembly draws in closer to him, the ghoul with the bowl kneeling before him. A hand is passed over the surface of the blood filled bowl, dark, powerful words spoken, imbuing the liquid with the energy. Hands grasp at his hair, pulling his head back, others force fingers into his mouth, prying his jaws open and holding them wide as the bowl is tilted, pouring the heavy, hot liquid down his throat.

He tries to thrash, gagging and choking, but the group does not relent, holding him stead and forcing every last drop down his throat. He tries to scream, tears dripping down his face, tail thrashing and slapping at his legs as his gut burns and seethes. A claws scratches a glyph to his forehead and a single word is spoken that flares bright, sears itself in into his mind and flesh. He thinks he screams again but is unsure, as the white-hot agony shatters his vision and overtakes his senses, persisting for minutes, hours, days, years. An unending millennia of suffering that does not cease.

\--

He doesn’t know how long it’s been when he comes to, curled up in a tight ball on his small pallet at home. He can hear his mother fussing about but does not move, staring blankly at the wall. Tears prickle at his eyes, though he’s not sure why, feeling strange and empty, as if something important had been removed from inside him. After some time his mother comes in, strokes his hair and croons gentle sounds. He drifts, closing his eyes and dreams of nothing.

\--

He’s staring at a strange outcropping of rocks, feeling as if something about them is important, when something hits him in the head. He grunts, shaking his head and looking around, finding a group of young ghouls tittering to themselves as they dart away from him. He tilts his head curiously then shrugs; they’ve been doing these small hit-and-run attacks every day it seems, finding some kind of odd pleasure at trying to hurt and pester him. It doesn’t really bother him much, besides the bruises and aches, and he doesn’t try to think about them much. He returns home, his mother clucking at him for being out alone but she pauses, leaning down to touch his head. Her fingers come back stained red and she hisses, chittering at him quietly as she examines the wound.

He hadn’t noticed the hit was hard enough to break skin, much less drip blood into his hair.

\--

He overhears her one night, speaking to the old crone of their clan.

“ _There’s something wrong with him, in the head. The ritual was supposed to fix him…_ ”

“ _There’s naught we can do now, perhaps he’ll snap out of it, it might just be a phase…_ ”

“ _He won’t speak and will sit and stare off for hours… I haven’t seen him use his power since, it’s like he’s…broken, become some kind of lifeless doll…_ ”

He leaves in the dead of night as his mother sleeps, slipping out of their home and wandering off into the dark halls and passages of Hell.

_\--_

He had no way of knowing where he was, or how long he’s been wandering for. All he knew was that there was a hole inside him, buzzing and eating at him, begging to find something to fill it with. Sometimes he’d come across other clans and would sneak food from their stores in the night, slipping away unseen in the dark. On rare occasions some offered him food or a place to rest, obviously feeling pity for his thin frame and bewildered gaze. Those he liked the most, though never stayed near long and would leave the next morning. The longest he stayed in one place was for five days and nights, actually feeling welcomed by the clan of earth ghouls whom he helped delve for the position of a new well. He hadn’t used his elemental power in an unknown amount of time, but it still sprang right to his fingertips, flowing calms and sweet through his blood. He’d found an aquifer the earth ghouls could tap in to, and the whole clan had welcomed him to stay in thanks.

But the itching began, leaving him despondent and restless, clawing at his insides and he leaves them behind, back to wandering after something he has no notion of.

\--

He doesn’t quite understand what’s going on the first time he’s caught in the middle of a mating frenzy. The ghouls and ghoulettes all hissing and snapping, tearing at each other as they chase after the ghoul that set them all off, all vying for his heart, to claim him for their own. He watches, perplexed, from the sidelines, not sure why they all feel the need to hunt, himself feeling the same as he always does. No fire stirs in his gut, no instinct pushes at him to want to join the chase. Even when the entire pack succumbs to the call of heat and rut once the ghoul has been claimed, by a tall, wiry ghoulette who hovers over him possessively, his head stays clear. He allows a tall, curvy ghoulette and a large hulking ghoul to drag him into the mix, lets them touch and stoke him all over with hands, tails, and lips. The encounter is pleasant, if a bit rough thanks to the thick rush of pheromones clouding their senses, and he overall enjoys it, but it ends at that. No passion running wild in his veins, no intense desire to fuck and be fucked clouding his mind.

He wanders away soon as he can extract himself from the two ghouls, now tiredly intertwined together as they recuperate till the next wave crashes over them and the frenzy begins anew.

\--

It’s a group of fire ghouls, tempers flaring as they spit and hiss, that knock him to the ground and stomp on his hands, breaking his fingers as he whimpers and keens. They laugh and chitter insults as he curls up around his mangled hands, crying and rocking to himself, praying they leave him be till he passes out.

\--

By the third time he’s stuck in the midst of a mating frenzy, he’s pretty sure he’s worked out some sort of explanation.

Again, like twice before, he doesn’t feel the call to mate. He’s pulled in to participation by other ghouls and ghoulettes, lets them use him as they see fit, content to just ride along in the wake of their pheromone-fueled passion.

He has a vague recollection of his mother speaking, saying that there’s something wrong, something broken inside him, and by now he has to agree. Every other ghoul beside himself is deep in the throes of heat, concerned only with the primal urge to fuck and breed. He might have been able to excuse the occurrence once, but after the third time of it happening he’s pretty sure it’s like his mother said: he’s broken inside.

He doesn’t see the harm of it, though, just mentally shrugs and keeps going, trying to extract himself from each new pair of hands that grasp at him, pulling him down into another fit of sex till he can finally limp away, bruised, bleeding, and covered with cum.

\--

The cavern is huge, home to countless clans of ghouls, more bodies in a single place than he’s seen in his lifetime. It’s exhilarating and terrifying, the air feeling as if it’s choked with the scents and auras of hundreds of ghouls. He wanders over to an area, a small plaza with carved stone benches and a huge fountain in the middle, gushing some strange, black liquid into its large basin. He peers inside to see the liquid is not truly black, but a swirling mass of colors and lights, all glittering and twinkling merrily. It tugs at something deep inside him, reminding him of a carved stone bowl held on a pair of knobby pale knees. The memory aches in his chest, tearing at his mind till he forces himself away from the basin, tripping over his feet and tail to fall to the flagstones. He skitters away from it, from the memories it brings forth, from it’s sweet and tempting call that makes his stomach roil and seethe.

He ends up cowering in another plaza nearby, seeking solace amongst the carved fountains burbling and splashing with clear, sweet water. He stays there till he becomes aware of a trio of fire ghouls, all dirty and shod in ragged clothes like he is watching him with an odd intensity. He slips away from the fountains, darting into the halls and passageways, hoping that he loses them in the winding caverns.

He’s not so lucky this time. Two of them follow him from behind, but the third had split away to cut him off. He ends up being stuck between them, left to cower and chitter quietly for mercy as they descend upon him, fists and feet rising to punch and kick, beating him as he falls to the floor and curls about himself protectively.

He’s not sure what it is that pulls him from the quiet void he retreats to when he’s attacked but lifting his arms from his face he makes out the vague shape of a tall figure clothed neck to toe in black, it’s head a faceless mask of silver. A foot strikes out against his chest and he cries out, feeling bone and cartilage snap under the blow. He whimpers quietly, wanting to beg the figure to turn to him, to come and save him from his attackers, to gather him close and chase the hurt away.

For the first time in his life, his wishes are finally answered.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The hunt begins, with Rain as the prize.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have some feels and some porn.  
> Finally getting somewhere, at last. Next chapter will be literally all porn, with my aforementioned orgy. Whee~

**III. Firestarter**

 

It started small, a twinge in his chest at random throughout the day. Then he'd start waking up in a cold sweat, chest tight and heart beating frantic. Blaze put it down as something left over from the mess of the last show that left Aether and Ember both hospitalized.

When he wakes up in the dark hours of the morning, heart aching and blood burning hot, he nearly panics, knows what this actually is before it takes him over completely. He manages to slip from the bed without waking Rain, thankful that the water ghoul sleeps like the dead, and flees down the deserted halls of the church, finding a place safe enough to lock himself in to.

With the heavy door closed and locked behind himself Blaze sighs, slumping against the stone wall and sliding to the floor, trying to mentally prepare himself for the veritable hell the next few days were going to be.

\--

“Has anyone seen Blaze,” Rain asks, looking oddly adrift as he searches through their apartment, tail twitching side to side.

“No, he wasn't at breakfast,” Ember notes, looking up from his phone.

“He won't answer his phone,” the water ghoul mumbles, worried. He begins opening cabinets in the kitchen, peering into the dark depths.

“I don't think he'd fit in there.” Aether wanders over to pat Rain's back, steering him from the kitchen.

“Let's go ask the girls, maybe they've seen him,” he offers gently, giving the lanky ghoul an optimistic smile.

\--

“Blaze? No, we haven't seen him since last night,” Zephyr says, stepping back from the keyboard she was standing over. Mistral shakes her head, she too hadn't seen the fire ghoul. Rain keens lowly, wringing his hands in the hem of his cassock. Zephyr coos at him gently, running her hands through his dark hair soothingly.

“There, there, it's alright dear. Want a cookie?” She hold out a little plastic baggie filled with small cookies, smelling of chocolate and cinnamon. Rain shakes his head, staring at his shoes.

“Want Blaze,” he mumbles, though he does take and eat the one that Zephyr sticks under his nose.

“Would you help us look,” Aether asks, looking at Mistral. “You have the best nose of all of us, you could find him in no time I’m sure.”

“Alright,” she concedes after Rain takes another cookie, sniffling softly. Mistral would never admit it out loud, but she had become oddly protective of the strange, lanky water ghoul, something about him setting off a kind of maternal instinct inside her. Seeing him so sad and dejected tugged at her heart, driving her to find some way to cheer him up.

\--

They grouped up in the common room, chattering about where the old ghoul could possibly have gone without telling them.

“Will this work,” Rain asks, holding out one of Blaze's sweat soaked balaclavas. Mistral wrinkles her nose at the worn garment, leaning away from it.

“At least he didn't bring you dirty underwear,” Zephyr snickers, and Rain perks up.

“I can get some if-”

“NO,” Mistral shouts, grabbing the balaclava from his grasp. “This is fine.”

She brings it to her nose, sniffing at it to get a nose for his scent. It's not as bad as she thought it would be; the salt and musk of sweat is prevalent, but underneath are rich, warm tones of spice. She oddly has the urge to rub her cheek against it, to spread the scent across her skin. She shivers and turns to the door, marching away with purpose as the rest of the ghouls fall into line behind her.

In the hallway she sniffs at the air, closing her eyes to concentrate on dissembling the myriad of smells that wind together like yarn in a tapestry. She picks Blaze's scent up, faint yet easily recognizable, and follows it down the corridor. She has to stop and close her eyes at every intersection, trying to determine which scent trail was the freshest to follow.

“He went… To the dungeons?” Ember asks as they crowd around one of the heavy doors guarding one of the carved stone stairways leading into the castle's depths.

“It leads down,” Mistral informs them, pulling at the door handle and descending the stairs with haste. She didn't like being in the lower levels, the air always felt stale and stagnant, claustrophobic, but she felt bad for Rain as the timid ghoul seems ready to begin crying with each passing moment that they don’t find the multi-instrumentalist. Their shoes clack on the hard stone floor, echoing loudly in the close hallways.

“Still leads down,” Mistral says quietly, standing at the top of the old stairwell. There are no lit wall sconces here, no lights whatsoever leading down into the inky darkness. She shudders, not wanting to go any further, her instincts telling her to back above ground.

“What’s even down there,” Earth asks, craning his neck to try and see through the dark. This was a level of the castle none of them had ventured to before, lower than even the old dungeons.

“And why would he go down here?” Aether walks down the first couple of steps, the stones old and worn smooth. He turns to Ember, “Can you make us some lights?”

“Sure,” the little fire ghoul nods, holding his balled fists before him before splaying the fingers open quickly. The motion ignites two orbs of flame that fill the area with warm, bright light, and with a wave of his hand one floats just ahead of Mistral to light her way, the other keeping pace at the back of the group.

“This place is spooky,” Zephyr whispers as they head further down, passing by old storage rooms filled with dust, cobwebs, and crates of unknown items, an odd yet subdued energy swirling about their ankles. The dread eating at Rain rises higher and higher as they go on, till Mistral stops before an old door. It’s wooden and heavy, banded with iron bars and studs. The energy surrounding the area is strange, prickling at their skin and leaving a peculiar feeling to curl in their guts. Rain whimpers, huddling close to Earth as Aether approaches the door, knocking on the thick door with enough force to be heard through it.

“Blaze? Blaze are you in there,” he calls, waiting for an answer. He thinks he’s able to hear movement on the other side while the energy shifts, dancing electric across their spines. They all shudder, Ember baring his fangs in a silent hiss. Aether moves to open the door, getting it just an inch open before something heavy crashes into it from the other side, slamming it shut with a menacing roar. Aether flinches back with a curse, though he’s able to catch a faint whiff of a scent from the room though the door was open for only a sparse moment. The others catch it as well, spines going collectively stiff as nostrils flare wide.

“Upstairs, now,” Aether orders, turning and using his bulk to crowd the group of ghouls back towards the stairs. They all jolt backwards, startled by the quintessence ghoul’s sudden change in demeanor but nonetheless obeying, letting him herd them all back up the stairs and to their apartment. They don’t speak till the door is shut behind them, enclosing them in the privacy of their own rooms.

“He’s going into rut, isn’t he,” Zephyr asks, to no one in particular. Mistral nods; the pheromone-laden musk of Blaze’s rut-scent had been strong enough for her to pick out from the cloying scent of dust and mold. Rain trills worriedly, clawing at the hem of his cassock to keep from biting at his claws.

“It’s good that he was able to think enough to hide himself somewhere no one will stumble upon him,” Aether sighs, worried about how the old ghoul will hold up, but more worried that the rut-scent would spread and send the entire population of church ghouls into heat and rut. He pulls out his phone to send a quick text message, alerting the other quintessence ghouls of the situation.

“I… I can help him,” Rain mumbles, shuffling anxiously and staring at his fellow band ghouls with wide eyes.

“No, he’d be more likely to tear you apart,” Aether sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“I didn’t even think we _could_ go into rut or heat outside of Hell,” Earth says, confused. He, like all the other ghouls, knew that being away from the tide of ambient energy that suffused their stifling halls and caverns practically put a stop to their instincts to breed. He hadn’t heard of a ghoul or ghoulette going into rut or heat since he’d been summoned to the surface some years before.

“It’s extremely rare; the few occasions it’s always been a mated pair,” Mistral murmurs, remembering one of the texts she had read some time before. A tense silence falls over the group as they all take furtive glances at Rain. As if feeling their eyes upon him the water ghoul looks up, glancing around for a moment before hunching down, wrapping arms and tail around his knees as he pulls them to his chest.

“No, I’m not… his mate… she’s dead,” he whispers to his knees, biting down on his lower lip. There’s a collective intake of air, a pained sound coming from Zephyr’s throat.

“How awful,” she murmurs, shuddering and unconsciously clinging to Mistral.

“Nevertheless,” Aether says, giving them all a stern look, eyes lingering on Rain longer than the others, “No one is allowed back down there. There’s too much at risk to do so.”

Rain keens, rocking back and forth in distress. “He needs—”

“No, Rain,” Aether sighs, shaking his head. “If he wanted anyone to ride it out with, he’d have taken them with him.”

“Mating bonds do… strange things to ones mind,” Mistral recites, eyes unfocused as she remembers the old text. “Going into rut or heat without their mate present, they become unstable, violent. There are a few accounts of ghouls who have wrecked massive amounts of damage during the frenzy.”

Rain makes a strangled noise, something halfway between a growl and a whimper, before scrambling away back to his room, door slamming shut behind him. Aether sighs again, know he was going to have to keep a close eye on the water ghoul, lest he try to take matters into his own hands.

\--

“Shit luck is what is it,” Quinn sighs, brushing his hands off on his cassock as he steps back from the walls, surveying his work. His fingers still tingle with the remnants of aetheric energy clinging to his skin, faint sparkles of purple and black tendrils that evaporate slowly into the air. Omega grunts, nodding his head as he sits back on his heels. glyphs like these tired him out more than anything; healing was his strong suit, not containment spells.

“So long as we keep him contained till it’s run it’s course,” Aether sighs, putting the last touches on the glyph he was inscribing on the wall. The power sizzles and crackles before snapping into position, lines glowing purple before fading to an iridescent black as it settles into the old stones.

“Poor bastard, I feel for him. Going through it seems bad enough when you’ve got someone to take the edge off,” Quinn mutters, moving to spit onto the floor but checking himself at the last moment as he remembers Omega seated nearby. “He’s going to tear himself to shreds on his own.”

“We’ll have to look in on him a few times, heal what we can before he tries to drag us under with him.” Omega stands, stretching and yawning, wanting to retreat to his bed and let Alpha curl around him protectively as he falls asleep. “It’s going to be a long week…”

\--

Rain worries that every time Aether returns to the apartment from the lower levels he’s going to tell them Blaze is dead, has torn himself apart in the midst of his torment and bled out alone on the stone floor. But the quintessence ghoul just smiles at him gently and gives him a pat on the head, reassuring him that the old fire ghoul is holding up as well as can be. As the days go by in a blur of worry, dread, and trying to occupy himself and the other ghouls with a particularly rigorous practice schedule, Rain finds himself to be slowly losing his grip on reality.

He feels as if there are eyes following him down the hallways, boring into his back with a fierce intensity, making him unconsciously hunch his shoulders and pick up his pace. He’s become certain that the other church ghouls sneer at him as they pass him; by the fourth day he’s actively flinching away from them when their eyes meet his on reflex. He increasingly avoids leaving the apartment if possible, hiding in his room to chew at his claws.

Mistral and Zephyr hiss and worry at him when they catch sight of the bloody nubs of two of his fingers, claws broken and chewed down to the quick. Zephyr sits on him to keep him still while Mistral cleans and bandages them, clucking at him sharply and purposely using a little more force than necessary when trimming the ragged edges and rubbing a stinging antiseptic into the broken skin.

“You need to take care of yourself,” Zephyr sighs, ruffling Rain’s hair affectionately. “Blaze will not be happy to find you in bad shape after just a week.”

Rain trills sadly but knows that the air ghoulette is right. He tries to focus instead on any else he can find, sitting up into the early hours of the morning playing games with Earth or watching nature documentaries with Ember, following his fellow band ghouls like a lost puppy.

 

* * *

 

 

**VI. The Chase**

 

“He’ll be fine, just needs some rest,” Zephyr assures Rain, patting him on the shoulder as they all walk down to the dining hall. The six ghouls had decided to give Blaze some peace and quiet after he’d dragged himself in that afternoon, looking ragged and half-crazy after his weeklong self-imposed isolation. Rain had been slowly becoming more and more distressed, wanting to both comfort the old ghoul but give him the space he needed. He’d allowed the others to talk him into going down and having dinner with the other church ghouls in the large hall, though he was beginning to regret the decision. He attributed the writhing of his guts to being surrounded by so many of their peers, many of which decidedly didn’t like him.

_At least I don’t have to do the dishes anymore,_ he thinks to himself, huddling in his seat. The girls sit to his left, leaving Aether, Ember, and Earth taking the seats to his right. A cautious glance up shows the ghouls seated across from them are all chattering away to each other, seemingly paying them no mind as platters of food are being set down on the long tables. The cardinal sits at the head table, standing once all the dishes are set and giving a quick sermon before signaling everyone to eat, the room nearly drowned out by the clink of cutlery and claws on porcelain dishes.

For the first time since he left Hell, Rain doesn’t feel hungry. Even the smell of the food, roasted meat that humans would call practically uncooked, seems to turn his stomach. He can feel sweat gathering under his collar, a weird, prickling energy making his tail twitch and head go light. He feels as if there are hundreds of eyes staring at him and glancing up he finds the ghoul across from him giving him an odd look. He blushes and drops his eyes, tries to take a deep breath but his chest feels tight. He pulls on Zephyr’s sleeve, getting her attention.

“I don’t… I don’t feel well. I’m gonna go back,” he mumbles and she coos and pats his head gently.

“Do you need us to walk you back,” she asks but he shakes his head before abandoning his seat. His instincts screamed at him to run, to flee the mass of ghouls surrounding him, but he forced the desire down, keeping his pace even and measured as he slips from the hall. The odd feeling of eyes on his back persists, however, and he throws a glance over his shoulder.

Someone had followed him.

He thinks maybe they weren’t following him, just leaving like he was, but then he notices that there’s more than one pair of shoes clicking on the polished floors behind him. There was maybe three or four other ghouls keeping pace a few yards back. He speeds up, jogging to get to a corridor with a few of the human clergy nearby as a deterrent from the beating he was no doubt about to receive.

He hears one of them snort, a guttural growl issued from a throat as the group springs forward with a burst of speed. His mind snaps and he breaks out into a sprint, unable to keep control of himself despite knowing that running would just entice them to chase. One of his pursuers howls and is answered by snarls and barks from the others, and Rain’s mind freezes as fear thrums deep in his chest.

Fear is an emotion he knows acutely. He’s tasted its many flavors during his years in Hell, knows all of the telltale sensations it brings. The sweating, the racing pulse, the inability to breathe in deeply, the loss of basic motor functions and coherent thought. This fear, though, this one is different, new. It’s fear yet it is something else entirely, something darker and primal, filtering up from the depths of his being, screeching and snarling at him to _run run run run run don’t let them catch you can’t let them touch you you are not **theirs** run run run._

He runs like he never has before in his entire life.

Another howl echoes down the hallways from further back as if answering the previous ghoul. Other ghouls from deep inside the church pick up the call, adding their own to the cacophony.

_HUNT! CHASE! OURS!_  They scream, exalting in their primal nature as they give chase, the terrified water ghoul their prize.

As Rain rounds a corner at an intersection he skids into someone, going down in a tumble of limbs. He doesn’t know who it was, knowing it was another ghoul only by the tail that smacks him across the face as he tries to untangle themselves.

“The fuck,” an annoyed voice asks, and looking up Rain finds himself staring into the soft green eyes of an earth ghoul that he doesn’t know. Their nostrils flare, scenting the air, then pupils dilate as he picks up the heady scent of pheromones and the howls of the others further away. Claws dig into Rain’s cassock and he lets out a squawk, trying to escape as the earth ghoul gives him a feral grin.

He’s saved when a sister of sin comes around another corner, tripping over the two ghouls. She yelps, distracting the earth ghoul and Rain takes the opportunity to wiggle away, scampering down the hall on all fours for a few feet before lurching upright and sprinting off. He can hear an angry snarl behind him, the sister shouting something indignant at the ghouls before screaming when the pack comes barreling down the hall at her. Rain darts through a doorway, vaulting down a staircase and somehow landing on his feet, rolling forward with the momentum before springing up and running onward, slipping through halls and corridors, going completely on instinct. The ornate doors to the front of the church soon loom ahead and he puts on another burst of speed, knowing deep down he needs to escape the halls, has a better chance at getting away once he’s outside.

Rain shoulders his way through the side door, knowing he’d just waste precious moments trying to open the massive carved wooden doors, the air outside cool and sweet, the sunlight beginning to fade as the sun dips low on the horizon. He thinks he’s going to make it when there’s the loud crash from behind as a ghoul leaps through the ornate stained glass window set above the church doors. Shards of colored glass and lead pepper the ground and he curls up on the concrete, shielding his head and neck from the sharp pieces with arms and hands. The air ghoul lands gracefully before him, long hair a white curtain over his face as he advances on the water ghoul with caution. Rain keens when claws grasp and dig into his arms, the fear spiking high when the air ghoul growls in triumph. His victory is short-lived however, as the church doors are blasted open, slamming back on their hinges with a deep thud as a fire ghoul leaps out and tackles the air ghoul to the ground.

“MINE!” he shrieks, the two ghouls hissing and clawing at each other for possession of the water ghoul. Rain uses this new distraction to his advantage, rolling to his feet and making a beeline for the forest that surrounds the church, intent on reaching the lake further in. If he could make it to the water he’d be safe, able to hide within the watery depths till the frenzy faded.

He trips over a root, landing hard on the forest floor. Blood fills his mouth as fangs bite through his cheek, making him hiss as he scrambles up, batting away low branches as he continues to run. He trips again, snarling as he digs his claws into the loamy ground to propel himself forward, only to find that his foot has become tangled in vines. He yanks on them but the harder he pulls the tighter they wind, and he spares a moment to mentally curse every earth ghoul he’s ever known.

The ghoul in question comes jogging up, giving him a fang-filled grin and licking lips in anticipation. Rain trills in distress, swiping at the tendrils holding his leg with claws, trying desperately to free himself. The earth ghoul gives a rumbling purr and pounces on him, straddling Rain’s hips as he tries to wriggle away, bucking upwards to try throw the earth ghoul off. The ghoul snarls and slaps him across the face, digging claws into the front of his cassock. He laughs coldly as he slaps Rain again, making the water ghoul cringe back and chitter in pain. He leans down, intending to bite at Rain’s jaw, to pepper his skin with marks, when they hear a loud boom in the direction of the church, followed by a deafening roar that sends cold spikes of terror down their spines.

The vines go lax around Rain’s leg as the earth ghoul quails from the sound, his hold on his elemental power slipping momentarily. Rain is able to buck him off, kicking him in the face as he clambers away, taking off towards the lake as the trees begin to creak and snap as something farther back begins tearing through the forest. Pure, unbridled terror seizes him as he dashes through the underbrush, almost heaving a sigh of relief when the branches give way to the clearing surrounding the lake only to find another ghoul waiting for him.

She’s a tall, muscular ghoulette with a face that looks like someone might have stomped on it at some point, nose wide and crooked, a scar pulling the left side of her lips into a permanent smirk. She bears her fangs at him and flexes her claws, bringing her hands up in a swift motion, calling up a thick rope of water from the lake to shoot out towards him. He yelps and slaps it away, unable to get a solid hold on his own elemental power with the fear and adrenaline coursing through his bloodstream, barely able to fend her off. He doesn’t notice till it’s almost too late that she had been using the water as a distraction, slowly moving closer till she can just about reach out and grab him. Rain tries to jerk back but the rope of water lashes out, hitting him across the chest and knocking the air from his lungs, nearly bringing him to his knees.

His savior comes this time in the form of something large, a dark blur hurtling through the air to slam into the stony shore of the lake. Both he and the ghoulette are stunned as they look, finding the object to be another ghoul. His cassock is torn and bloodied, one of his arms now bent at an unnatural angle; from the quiet sound of pain he makes he’s still living. The ghoulette’s head snaps to the side, eyes raking through the trees when they hear a high pitched shriek and something else goes careening from the brush. They both flinch back away from it, though it’s a much smaller dark object.

Looking closer, they find it to be someone’s arm, seemingly pulled till the elbow joint came apart, long distended strands of bloody muscle clinging to the exposed bone. The violence of it doesn’t do much to Rain, he’s seen his own fair share of fights and scrapes in the suffocating caverns of Hell, has tended his own lacerations and set bones, even the ones that splintered and broke skin. He’s stitched himself closed enough times that the piece of gore lying in the grass is just another thing he’s seen, another item he can check off a mental list he’s kept since he first saw an enraged fire ghoul tear off another ghoul’s horns when he was but a kit still clinging to his mother’s tattered skirts.

The ghoulette, however, doesn’t manage to handle the mangled limb very well. She gasps and flinches away from it, staring wide-eyed as if waiting for it to move, to start clawing its way through the grass toward her. There’s another outraged roar, though from considerably nearby now, and they both flinch away, hands clapping over their ears to drown out the sound. As Rain is about to turn around to keep running he sees another body flying through the air to collide with the ghoulette, knocking her to the grass. She panics, shrieking as the mangled body weighs her down, blood from the cuts in its shredded cassock and from the stump of its right arm staining her skin and the grass scarlet. Rain is able to just barely make it out as the earth ghoul who had him pinned mere minutes ago and uses this new distraction to make a break for the lake, turning and digging his heels into the grass to spring forward.

He doesn’t make it.

Something lands on his back, heavy and bleeding enough heat to make him hiss, dragging him down to the ground. He’s trapped now, searing claws gripping at his shoulder and hip, knees digging into his back, pressing his face into the soft earth. Teeth bite down hard onto the nape of his neck to keep him still, a deep growl rumbling in a rush of hot breath across his neck. Rain keens sharply, the pain of the fangs slicing into his flesh bright and piercing but he stays still, worried that moving would make those powerful jaws snap down and crush his spine. The claws drag over Rain’s skin, shredding cassock and pants and tearing the fabric apart, flinging the shreds to the side to expose pale skin riddled with welts and claw marks. The hands shift to grasp at his ass, slapping his tail to the side, pulling him up to his knees and spreading him open. Rain bites into his bottom lip in preparation but expecting it doesn’t help much, though he’s at least able to keep from crying out as the ghoul thrusts inside him, cock impossibly thick and hard. The claws dig back into his skin, cutting shallow lines into hips and thighs till he can feel the drip of blood down his legs.

Rain’s head spins, the pheromones thick and cloying, hazing everything over as they mix with a rush of endorphins, sending him spiraling into the nonsensical oblivion of the mating frenzy. He moans, the sound low and quiet in his throat, hips twitching to urge the dominant ghoul on, chirping and chattering a series of sounds of encouragement. _Yes, mark me, take me, I’m yours please please please._

The ghoul comes, grunting as he empties himself into Rain’s tight heat, fangs letting go of his neck as a hot tongue laps at the blood that drips from the wounds. He gives a hushed sob as the ghoul pulls out, leaving Rain empty and gaping, cum dripping down his thighs as his ass clenches around nothing. The ghoul growls low at him and flips him over, making Rain hiss as the claw marks on his back scrape against the ground. He blinks up at the figure towering over him, taking a moment for the watery haze over his vision to clear and he can see eyes glittering like bonfires gazing down on him.

“Blaze,” he murmurs, heart leaping at the sight of the old fire ghoul, no matter how far into the craze of the mating frenzy he was. Rain reached up and pulls Blaze down to press their mouths together, moaning as the fire ghoul growls and thrusts his tongue inside, claws digging into Rain’s hips.

“ _Mine,_ ” Blaze rumbles, nipping at Rain’s lips as he grinds his hips down, still-hard cock dragging against his hip. Rain trills as he spreads his legs, hooking one around Blaze’s hips and using his foot to press him forward.

“ _Again, please, I need you,_ ” Rain chirps, moaning as Blaze’s teeth closes on the old bite mark on his neck. The old fire ghoul takes no time complying with his wish, shifting and moving Rain till he slides back inside with a snap of his hips. Rain arcs his back and moans loudly in pleasure, brain shorting out till all he can think of is the cock stretching him wide, head slamming against his prostate to make sparks of pleasure sing along nerves in bright jolts. Distantly he can feel their elemental powers rising, twinning about each other, linking them in the beginnings of a mating bond. The sweetness of it, how it finally fills that empty spot inside him that he’s tried to fill his entire life, is overpowering, clenching his chest tight with a sob of relief.

“ _Mine, mate. My mate, mine, all mine,_ ” Blaze growls in his ear, sharp teeth nipping at the lobe and his jaw.

“ _Yes, yours, all yours, forever and always,_ ” Rain groans, losing grasp of coherent thought as he comes, eyes screwing shut as he bucks and howls, splattering his stomach and chest with his cum. Blaze hisses in his ear as he comes soon after, hips twitching in shallow thrusts as he rides out the aftershocks before collapsing on top of Rain.

A hot tongue laps at the streaks of cum on his chest, making Rain shiver and moan quietly as he catches his breath, brain finally beginning to process everything. Blaze rumbles and kisses him, letting Rain taste himself on the fire ghoul’s tongue. The water ghoul moans quietly, clutching at Blaze’s neck and face as their tongues twine together, the heat beginning to build again in his groin. He makes a small noise when Blaze pulls away, only to gasp as Blaze wraps arms around Rain’s back and knees, lifting him in his arms with a flex of powerful muscles. Rain slings his arms around Blaze’s neck, clutching at him desperately as Blaze carries him, pressing his face to the fire ghoul’s chest, licking at the skin as his brain begins to short out on the pheromone rush again.

“ _Nest_ ,” Blaze rumbles when Rain chirps at him inquisitively, wondering where they were going. The water ghoul trills in anticipation, eager for the quiet safety of their own space, to be hidden safely away from prying eyes and jealous claws as the mating frenzy crests. Rain closes his eyes, entranced by the steady beat of Blaze’s heart under his cheek, cock already hard again and dripping precome onto his stomach. He does his best not to whimper and writhe, feeling the drip of cum down his thighs as he involuntarily clenches the muscles of his ass, pulse hammering in his throat from arousal. He almost sobs in relief when the door to Blaze’s room—no, _their nest_ , slams shut and he bucks, pushing Blaze back onto the mattress with a huffed breath.

Rain purrs as he clambers over Blaze’s body, moaning loudly as he sinks himself onto the fire ghoul’s hard cock. He’s still loose and open, hole slick with Blaze’s cum from the two rounds just minutes before, allowing him to grind and bounce on his erection with ease. He slaps the fire ghoul’s hands away when he reaches for his dripping cock, chirping that he wants to try and last longer, wants to fall over the edge as Blaze fills him with his seed again. The old ghoul snorts but allows it, settling hands on bony hips and bucking upwards, thrusting himself deep inside Rain’s body. Rain is hot and tight around him and he groans, the instinctual need to fuck, to breed, thrumming in his veins as he chases after the thrill of orgasm, only slightly annoyed at how quickly Rain brings him to the brink. As the familiar pleasure coils in his gut he grasps Rain’s cock and pumps it, using a tight pressure and quick motion that makes the water ghoul throw his head back and give a strangled shout of a moan at the feeling. Blaze snaps his hips forward one last time as he grunts, coming so hard stars spark across his vision, feeling as if a piece of his soul dislodges and buries itself with his cum inside the water ghoul.

Rain barely manages to hold on that last moment, finally letting himself be dragged under as his orgasm slams through him. He spurts hot and thick all over Blaze’s hand on his prick, streaks of his seed decorating the tanned skin of the fire ghoul’s stomach. They’re both left panting, Rain groaning as he lifts himself off Blaze to fall over and snuggle into his side. They both fall into a deep sleep, the frenzy finally loosening its hold on them for some much needed respite.

\--

Rain blinks his eyes, gazing at the star-filled sky above him. He sits up, finding himself in a field of long grass that sways in a gentle breeze. It’s dead silent, no chirps and chatters of insects and nocturnal animals, just the quiet rush of wind through the long blades of grass. Standing he feels like he can see forever, the dark sky and the green grass going on for miles and miles on end. Something pulls at him, like a gentle tugging at his soul, urging him to follow the sensation, to find what speaks so him so sweetly.

He feels like he walks for just a few moments but also for hours, time skewed and distorted in this strange realm, when he hears the quiet sound of waves lapping at a beach. Just as the thought comes to Rain the grass opens up to a lake, water dark and glittering, an old, worn wooden pier jutting out from the shore. There’s a figure sitting at the end and he approaches quietly, wondering who it was.

She’s a ghoulette, skin pale against a cascade of dark wavy hair that would reach down to her knees if she were standing. She drags her feet through the water, humming quietly to herself, petting at something clutched close to her chest.

“There you are,” she murmurs, voice rich and sultry, turning to look at Rain as he comes close. He almost flinches back from the intensity of her gaze, breath catching in his throat as he takes in the glittering blue eyes and he _knows_.

“You… you’re…” he stammers, shuffling uneasily on the wooden planks. She laughs, a quiet rumbling sound from deep in her chest, giving him a wide smile.

“Yes, I know. Come, sit, we have someone important to discuss,” Azure says, patting the space next to her. Rain settles down, folding his knees and trying not to hunch in on himself, trying to sneak a glance at the object Blaze’s deceased mate was caressing. It’s almost cat-like, it’s skin coated in inky black fur and scales.

“I’ve been waiting for you to come here,” she says, stroking the things head with the backs of her claws. “It’s taken him so long to finally realize what he wanted, and longer still to learn that he’s allowed it.”

“I… I don’t…” Rain fidgets, bringing a hand to his mouth to bite at his claws. Azure snorts and slaps his hand away, giving him a knowing look.

“He’s been hurting for so long, he’s forgotten what it feels like not to,” she sighs, the thing in her arms making a shrill chirping sound, it’s flesh seeming to writhe and distort in her arms till a series of cracks and lines open along the surface, glowing the color of magma. She coos at it gently, trilling soothing sounds and petting it softly. “You’ll take care of him; he needs someone calm to cool his anger, to reign in that temper of his.”

Diamond-like shapes open up on the things’ skin as he listens, and it begins to move; it takes a moment for Rain to understand that the shapes are eyes, six in total, that blossom along a slenderly-shaped head. As it unravels itself he can only describe is as a mix between some kind of large cat and drake with its elongated neck and thick tail. It chitters at him and Azure leans over, curling around it to press her lips to its scaly neck.

“You see him, feel him, my love?” Her eyes snap up to Rain’s and she smiles. “He’ll watch over you, keep you safe, just like I did all those years. And you’ll do the same for him, won’t you?”

“Oh,” Rain breathes, the realization of what it was finally dawning upon him. This strange creature was a part of Blaze’s essence, his soul, a metaphysical representation of what he truly was beneath the human-like façade. It seems to grow as it clambers from Azure’s hold, smoke puffing from a fang-filled mouth as it yawns and stretches, scrambling over the wooden pier to crawl into Rain’s lap. Its flesh is hot, almost unbearably so but Rain doesn’t flinch, lets it dig its claws into his flesh as it climbs, long tail winding around him as it presses its head to his chest. Claws and teeth bite into the skin over his heart, tearing its way inward, burrowing into his chest, making a home for itself amongst scarred ribs and curling protectively around his heart. The pain is searing and intense but Rain welcomes it, lets his eyes fall shut and tilts his head back as he keens and breathes through the agony.

When he opens his eyes he’s on his side, slumped over in Azure’s lap as she runs claws through his hair, humming a quiet tune.

“There now, sweet boy. See? He’s right at home,” she whispers, tracing claws over his chest. Rain looks down, expecting to see his skin coated in gore, to have his flesh carved up and warped. There’s no sign of what he swears just happened, the flesh unmarked and whole, and he touches his fingers to his skin timidly.

Something else beats alongside his heart, deep and quiet, reverberating throughout his being. He gasps, feeling the warmth flood through him, blooming like a winged beast unfurling it’s wings to bask in the sunlight. Emotion wells, thick and sweet, bringing tears to his eyes and constricting his throat and Rain reflexively clutches as his chest, as if afraid the feeling would dissolve, like ashes on the wind.

“Go take care of him for me,” Azure murmurs, her eyes shimmering brightly. Rain nods, voice incapable of forming words, reaching up and clutching at her desperately. The ragged need for her eats at him from the inside, hot and insidious, bitter with despair. It’s a shared feeling and he gladly lets it seep into his bones, sobs with the agony of it and prays to his unholy Father he can provide some form of relief for it.

“Shh, you already do,” the gentle voice hums, fading despite how he tries to cling to it.

Rain wakes with a start, chest clenching tight and tears spilling hot over his cheeks. He burrows into the warmth of Blaze’s bare skin, pressing his face to the hollow of his mate’s neck and shoulder and sobs.

\--

Blaze has done this before, some centuries prior, but the mindscape he had traversed then was an old forest surrounding a lake of shockingly blue water. This one, however, is as different as could possibly be.

The sky is full of roiling dark clouds, lightening flashing in the distance, thunder a dull, threatening rumble. The land is a barren moonscape, the ground powdery ash, the remnants of trees and bushes dead, scraggly things clinging to jagged rocks.

Blaze knew the water ghoul had some issues, had woken him from the grips of night terrors and caught him staring off into nothing at times, as if he wasn’t truly there, mind locked somewhere else for the interim. The old fire ghoul hadn’t expected something of this magnitude, his insides twisting as he chokes down the urge to hunt down every being that had ever hurt his poor Rain and tear them limb from limb.

Something moves nearby, sending some rocks and pebbles cascading to the ground. Whipping his head around Blaze catches something small and dark darting away from him. He follows it cautiously, doing his best to not seem too threatening. He steps around a rocky outcropping to find a small pond, the water dull and muddy, its depth unfathomable through the haze clouding the surface. The thing he was following dives behind a small figure crouched at the bank that holds a large carven stone platter on its knees. The little ghoul, still a kit practically, has sallow skin and flaxen hair, limbs thin and delicate from starvation. It’s eyes are the only color it seems to truly possess, a swirling mix of blue, purple, and gold, pupils unable to be seen through the color. It senses Blaze as he steps closer, head darting up and opening its mouth to chitter quietly at him. The sound is strange, muddled and wet, unintelligible as either a ghoulish or animal noise.

Blaze finds out why after a moment, as the kit tilts its head to watch him move, the flesh of its neck gaping opening up in a red slash from one side to the other.

Blaze shudders, crouching nearby to try and get a surreptitious look at the small dark creature cowering behind the kit.

“What do you have there,” he asks the kit, nodding to the stone platter. The rim is intricately carved in swirls and loops, braiding together around arcane symbols. The kit grins at him and attempts to chirp brightly, the sound coming out as a series of wheezes and clicks from its ruined throat and waves a hand over the platter surface. The surface shimmers and waves, colors and images swirling like ink dropped in water, the kit watching it intently. It waves him over and Blaze comes to kneel beside it, peering down at the object.

“ _Scrying mirror.”_ The kit says, though it’s not a voice, more an impression of words and images communicated directly with his mind.

“It’s lovely,” Blaze comments, running a gently claw around the edge of the mirror. “I’m looking for Rain, have you seen him?”

The kit grins at him and shrugs obliquely, tapping its claws again the stone mirror. Blaze lets out a quiet sigh, tamping down the urge to throw the kit aside and snatch up the dark creature hiding behind it. Forcing his way through Rain’s psyche would be the worst possible thing he could do at the moment, and instead Blaze tries another approach.

“Are you his friend, do you have a name,” he asks, the kit gurgling happily at him.

“ _Yes, Lux._ ” Blaze hums in response, reaching out to run the back of a claw gently over one of the small nubs of its horns.

“Who hurt you, little one,” he asks, genuinely curious. When he was living in Hell kits were dear things, fiercely protected by their parents and clans. To cut one’s throat, like this one, would have sparked a fierce battle amongst them. The kit chatters wetly, the sounds sad and subdued as it waves a hand over the mirror. Images spark to life and Blaze watches intently, observing the ritual scene play out and make his heart clench in sadness.

“You were a born aether ghoul,” he murmurs, reaching out run a finger down the side of its face, crooning softly in remorse. Ghouls born tied to the most primordial of elemental powers were extremely rare, born randomly amongst the other clans and having no clan of their own to protect them. The other ghouls shunned them, labeling them as cursed and bringing woe upon them. They rarely grew into adulthood, the kits either dying on their own or being used to power old, twisted rituals.

“I’m sorry,” he rumbles, settling on the ground and opening his arms to the kit. It sets the scrying mirror aside to crawl into his lap and curls up around him, flinging thin arms around his neck and pressing its face to his chest. Blaze hums softly, holding the fragile body close and petting at its hair, as if a few moments of comfort and protection could apologize for a short lifetime of abuse and an abrupt, violent death.

The little dark creature he’d been looking for looks up from behind a rock, chirping quietly before slinking towards Blaze and the kit slowly. It reminds Blaze of a hairless cat as it watches him carefully with huge eyes, shimmering with the rich colors he knows so well. He slowly holds a hand out to it, crooning to it softly, enticing it to come near. It stretches out it’s neck to sniff at his fingers, flinching back when he accidentally moves his hand. It comes right back though, nosing at the digits before rubbing its head along his palm. Blaze is mildly surprised it’s not covered in scales, it’s skin instead covered in a short, thick coat that feels like velvet. It clambers up his legs to curl around the kit held in his arms, pressing its head against his chest, right above his heart. Blaze gives a contented sigh, hunching protectively over the creatures held to his chest, rumbling a quiet promise to look after and protect them for as long as he draws breath before closing his eyes and drifting.

He wakes to find Rain curled up and sobbing into his throat, reflexively wrapping his arms around his newfound mate and croon to him softly. He eventually quiets, shivering slightly before going lax, sleep pulling the water ghoul back under. Blaze can feel him twice, one warm against his skin, the other quiet and content deep in his chest. He allows sleep to descend upon him again, knowing he’s going to need the rest to finish riding out the mating frenzy still itching in his blood.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go, like, 7k'ish words of ghoul orgy, and some extra little bits. I hope you all enjoy~

**V. Together as One**

 

“I’m gonna find something to eat,” Blaze rumbles, stretching his arms over his head. Rain hums, curling into the blankets like a sleepy cat.

“Bring me something back,” he asks, voice thick with sleep. Blaze purrs, stroking Rain’s hair and pressing a kiss to his forehead, dragging on a shirt and a pair of boxers before heading out into the common area. It’s quiet, the lights all off, and he doesn’t expect to see any of the other band ghouls at this hour. He’s mildly surprised, then, to find Ember hunched over the dining room table, looking oddly forlorn. The little fire ghoul lifts his head when Blaze approaches, tired eyes meeting his own.

“Been here by yourself the whole time,” Blaze asks, dropping into the chair next to the smaller ghoul. He’s suddenly overcome with the memory of having his fingers inside Ember, slick and hot, stretching him open as he clenched down on the digits. He breathes in sharply, arousal singing down his veins to his groin. Ember shudders and moans quietly, as if he had shared the same memory just then, pushing away from the table to stand on shaky legs. Blaze reaches out and drags the small ghoul into his lap, their cloth-covered erections sliding against each other as Blaze kisses Ember hungrily. The smaller ghoul moans, nipping at his lips and pushing his tongue into his mouth, claws digging into the larger ghoul’s shoulders, the rough ridge of his scarred palms noticeable through the thin fabric of his shirt. Blaze huffs a quiet laugh and allows Ember his small dominant display, tipping his head back to change the angle of the kiss and let it deepen, his hands sliding down to cup the smaller ghoul’s butt.

Just as things were beginning to heat up between them Ember is pulled from Blaze’s lap, a hand grasping at Ember’s long hair and yanking viciously, tossing him to the floor with a yelp. Both fire ghouls are stunned speechless as Rain clambers onto Blaze’s lap, curling about the old ghoul possessively and hissing at Ember.

“Mine,” the water ghoul growls, Ember staring at him in disbelief while Blaze chuckles quietly.

“Hey now,” the old ghoul admonishes his mate gently, nuzzling at his neck, “no one is taking me away from you. Ember’s just lonely, wants someone to ride out the heat with.”

Rain makes a disgruntled noise before tilting his head to the side, shivering as Blaze mouths at his pulse point. Ember groans quietly in frustration, his cock throbbing in his boxers and annoyed at being interrupted but not wanting to risk the ire of the other two ghouls if he were to try and join or interrupt them. Blaze gives the smaller fire ghoul a look, his mouth pulling into a grin.

“Wanna be nice and help out our friend,” he whispers into Rain’s ear, running his tongue along the shell. Rain shivers again, giving his mate a curious chirp.

“Think you could suck him off while I fuck you,” Blaze rumbles, rubbing at the base of the water ghoul’s tail to make him moan quietly. “Think you could take us both, let us fill you full? Could you do that for me, love?”

“Yesss,” the lanky ghouls groans, wiggling in Blaze’s lap, unable to deny him anything when he speaks low and filthy in his ear and with the rut-fire burning in his groin. Blaze huffs a laugh, standing to strip his shirt and boxers off, letting Rain slide to the floor and stare up at him with wide, worshipful eyes. He reaches for Blaze’s cock once its free of his underwear, though Blaze grabs his wrist to kiss at his palm as he goes to his knees.

“You’ll get it soon enough, don’t be greedy,” he chuckles, motioning Rain to turn to the smaller fire ghoul who was still sprawled out on the carpet nearby, watching them with a small amount of trepidation. “Go on, help him get out of those clothes.”

Rain huffs, whining slightly when Blaze doesn’t let him grasp his cock. He turns his head to look over at Ember before obediently crawling on his hands and knees to sit before the smaller ghoul, reaching out to run his hands up and under his shirt, fingers caressing at taunt abdominal muscles. Ember shudders lightly at the touch, letting Rain drag his hands and shirt slowly over his chest, fingers pausing to flick at his pierced nipples before pulling the garment all the way off. Ember glances up at Blaze, eyes asking for permission before leaning forward to nip at Rain’s jaw, lips trailing over the water ghoul’s cheek to trace his bottom lip with tongue. When Blaze doesn’t seem to object Ember lets his tongue part Rain’s lips, dipping inside to taste him as the submissive ghoul gives a quiet, hungry moan. Fingers return to his nipples, toying with the metal rings and rolling the nubs between calloused pads. Ember groans quietly when the hands move downward to hook into the elastic of his boxers, Rain pulling away to slither down his body, lips and tongue trailing down his skin leaving goosebumps in his wake.

Rain buries his face in the front of Ember’s boxers, nosing at his erect cock through the fabric and inhaling, reveling in the scent of musk, sweat, and spice. He mouths at the head, soaking the cloth with saliva, looking up to grin devilishly at the smaller ghoul. Ember gives a shuddering moan, leaning back on his elbows and spreading his legs wider, hips bucking upwards when Rain pulls his mouth away.

“Stop teasing,” Blaze laughs as he kneels behind the water ghoul, large hands grasping at his hips to pull his ass into the air. Rain snorts and drags Ember’s boxers off, tossing them aside and dipping his head forward, curling his forked tongue around the head of his prick. He presses his mouth to it, tilting his head side to side to smear the bead of precome across his lips. He gives Ember a sultry smile as he licks it off, about to tease the tip of his tongue along the slit when Blaze slaps him hard across his plump ass and he yelps.

“What did I say about teasing,” the big ghoul growls, spreading Rain wide and spitting a glob of saliva onto his hole. He massages the spit across the puckered flesh with his thumb before pressing in with his middle and forefinger, wiggling the digits to press them against the walls of his anus. Rain squirms and moans, the ring of muscle clenching tight around Blaze’s fingers as he thrusts them slowly in and out of his body.

“You’re not getting my cock till you’ve got his down your throat,” Blaze rumbles, pulling his dripping fingers free and wiping them on Rain’s thigh. The water ghoul makes a strangled noise before lurching forward to wrap his lips around Ember’s cock, sucking hard on the tip before sliding down, nearly taking the entirety of him in on the first go. As he pulls upwards he traces the veins with the forked tips of his tongue, swiping at the tip before plunging back down. This time he does take all of him in, letting the head of Ember’s dick press against the back of his throat, muscles constricting around the stiff cock as he swallows.

“Good boy,” Blaze purrs, spitting in his hand and coating his own erection as Ember gasps and moans. He shuffles forward to guide his cock between Rain’s cheeks, snapping his hips forward to let the head breach the tight ring of muscle and bury half of his length in the tight heat of Rain’s ass. The water ghouls makes a strangled sound around the cock in his mouth, the vibrations of the sound in turn making Ember moan and buck his hips forward, ramming his dick into the back of Rain’s throat. Rain breathes harshly through his nose but does not gag, pulling back then plunging back down on the engorged rod of flesh, trying to keep pace with the quick, hard thrusts of Blaze’s hips. The sensation of being overfilled at both ends is almost overwhelming, his brain having a hard time trying to decide if he should buck his hips back into the cock impaled in his ass or keep his head bobbing on the one impaled down his throat.

Ember saves him the decision, hands threading into Rain’s hair and grasping at his head, hips bucking up and fucking his mouth in tight, choking circles. Blaze’s fingers dig into his hips as he thrusts harder, groaning as Rain clenches tight around him.

“Fuck, look at you,” he pants, watching Ember fuck Rain’s mouth hard. “You’re doing so good, fuck, gonna make us both come, fill you up full, gonna be dripping down your chin and thighs.”

Ember moans, hips bucking sharply as he comes in Rain’s throat, mashing his face into his groin as the water ghoul works to swallow him down.

“Hnngh, like that, yeah swallow all of it, good boy, fuck,” Blaze groans, shuddering as his balls draw up tight, grinding his hips against Rain’s ass as his orgasm approaches. “Fuck you feel so good, so tight and hot, gonna make me come, _fuck, I’m gonna_ —!"

Blaze snarls as he comes, sheathed in Rain’s body, a full-body shudder going over him when he pulls his softening cock from the tight heat, almost collapsing over him as his bones seem to turn to jelly in the aftermath. Rain lets Ember’s now-soft cock drop from his mouth and falls to his side, running his tongue over swollen lips.

“Fuck,” groans Ember when he finally regains his breath, still amazed at how Rain had swallowed him down and didn’t gag once the entire time. He reaches out when he noticed that Rain is still hard, cock glistening with precome between his thighs. He moans when Ember’s hand closes around him and begins to stroke him, tilting his head back as he bucks his hips into the tight circle of fingers. The scar on the smaller ghoul’s palm adds just the right amount of friction and it’s not long before Rain is gasping as he comes, having already been close to the brink from pleasuring the two of them moments before. Ember brings his now soiled hand to his mouth and licks the thick white strands from his skin, watching how Blaze curls up around Rain’s back, nuzzling at his neck.

Rain holds out his arms to Ember tiredly, and the small ghoul hesitates only a moment before snuggling in close, sandwiching Rain between the hot bodies of two fire ghouls. He catches Blaze’s eyes watching him, the older fire ghoul giving him a wicked grin.

“I’m gonna get my fingers back in you yet, don’t you worry,” he purrs, stroking at Rain’s hair and licking his lips. Ember can’t help the blush that spreads across his cheeks, from both the embarrassment and the want of the filthy words. He buries his face into the junction of Rain’s neck and shoulder, nosing at the water ghoul’s skin before sighing in contentment, letting the post-orgasmic lethargy pull him into a deep sleep.

\--

Rain wakes up to his bladder scratching at his mind, achingly full. He’s warm and content with Blaze and Ember curled around him and doesn’t want to move, but the urge to urinate is too strong to ignore. Slow, with exaggerated care, he’s able to extract himself from the tangle of arms, legs, and tails, without waking the two fire ghouls, who merely grunt in their sleep and curl around each other, filling the space Rain had vacated. He pads back to his bathroom and relieves himself, taking a moment to brush his teeth and swipe a damp cloth at the streaks of dried cum on his stomach and thighs before heading back out to the common area, wondering if there was anything to eat in the refrigerator.

A noise from Earth’s room makes Rain pause as he heads back down the hallway, pressing an ear to the door to see if he could hear anything else. After a moment he hears it again, a frustrated groaning from inside the room.

“Earth, you alright,” Rain asks, tapping on the door, voice hoarse from the hard use of his throat earlier.

“Don’t come in,” comes the muffled reply.

“Why, is something wrong,” the water ghouls asks, worried about the drummer. There’s a pause before he hears another groan from behind the door.

“I’m… I’m in rut. Don’t want to drag you guys in with me,” Earth says, voice strained. Rain rolls his eyes and tries the door, finding it locked. He hums as he slides a claw into the lock, tapping at the tumblers delicately till they all fall into the right place. Rain grins to himself as the handle turns and he lets himself into the room, looking over at the tall ghoul curled up on his bed.

“Damnit Rain, I said don’t come in,” Earth hisses, then presses his hands over his face, making a strangled sound when he sees the water ghoul standing in the doorway. “Satan’s fucking balls, why are you always naked?”

“I’m not always naked,” Rain mumbles, walking further into the room and letting the door close behind him. He takes a deep breath, the scent of plants and soil rich in the air, making his head go light for a moment.

“You smell good,” Rain murmurs, swaying lightly on his feet, Earth’s rut-scent sparking in his mind, igniting the fire in his gut.

“You need to leave,” Earth mumbles from under his hands, concentrating on anything besides the mental image of Rain’s dick and wondering what he tastes like.

“You don’t have to be alone,” the water ghoul purrs, slowly advancing on the drummer’s prone form, his cock already at half-mast. “We’ve all fallen to it, you can join us. We’ll take care of you.”

“You mean…” Earth pulls his hands from his face, nearly flinching away when he finds Rain kneeling at his bedside. He gets a nose-full of Rain’s scent when he inhales, clean and bright, like a frozen lake in midwinter, though there’s a small tinge of something warm and spicy hidden in it, like a fire roaring in the hearth of a cabin. It’s heady and intoxicating, sending a thrill of arousal down his spine, cock stiffening in his shorts. Earth sits up and grasps Rain’s face in both his hands, pulling the water ghoul forward and mashing their lips together in a bruising kiss. He bites and licks his way into the submissive ghoul’s mouth, pulse thudding in his ears, suddenly for once glad Rain wasn’t wearing any clothes.

Rain moans into his mouth, pulling away so that he can climb onto the bed and straddle the taller ghoul’s hips, grinding down to rub their erections together. Earth hisses at the contact and grabs a fistful of dark hair, pulling Rain’s head back to bare his throat. The water ghoul mewls softly as Earth nips and kisses at the column of pale skin, sucking bruises to the side as his other hand drags his fingers over Rain’s pulse.

“Fucking hell,” Earth breathes against his skin as his fingers trace the mounded scar tissue of the bitemark over his jugular. Rain trills quietly, grinding his hips down in search of friction, becoming annoyed as Earth stops moving as his fingers explore the wealth of scars and marks that litter Rain’s flesh.

“Eaaaarth,” he whines, wriggling against the tall ghoul, “Lemme go, I wanna… I want…”

Earth loosens his grip on Rain’s hair, the water ghoul chirping loudly as he slinks down the taller ghoul’s body, stripping his shorts down his thighs so he can take the head of his cock into his mouth. Rain moans as he laps at the glans, savoring the musky flavor of him as he stretches his jaws wide to take in the earth ghoul’s girth. Earth grunts, jerking his hips as Rain bobs his head, fucking his mouth on the thick, throbbing cock.

Rain pulls his mouth from Earth’s dick, sucking hard at the head as it drops from his lips. He teases his tongue against the slit as the tall ghoul moans and hisses at him.

“You wanna come in my mouth or my ass,” Rain asks, voice gravelly from his throat’s repeated hard use.

“What… fuck,” Earth groans, twitching his hips as his cock throbs, demanding the stimulation to return. “I don’t care, just let me fucking finish.”

Rain hums and sinks his mouth back down around Earth’s prick, taking him into his throat and swallowing around him. His jaws had begun to ache from the stretch; Earth was likely the thickest ghoul he’d ever lain with. The idea of letting the tall ghoul fuck him, cock stretching him open and thrusting into his tight ass, makes him moan and shudder, his own dick heavy and wanting between his legs. Rain has half a mind to drag his mouth away and sit on him, ride his cock till he comes all over Earth’s chest. But Earth must be close by this point, with how rut wreaks havoc on their stamina, and prolonging the first orgasm at this point would just be mean to the tall ghoul. He figures he can wait out the rut-fire burning in his own gut for awhile longer, choosing to put all his skill and attention to making Earth come as quick as possible. He sucks hard and swallows him down, purring around his cock as he bobs his head, saliva dripping over his lips and down his chin.

When Earth comes it’s quiet, the tall ghoul biting down on his bottom lip and only letting out a few hushed, strangled noises as he shudders and his seed fills Rain’s mouth. The water ghoul gives a contented purr and swallows the load down, licking at the slit to catch every last drop till Earth pulls him away, twitching from overstimulation and collapsing back onto his bed.

“You taste good,” Rain murmurs, smacking and licking at his swollen lips and rubbing a hand over his aching jaw, gazing down at the debauched earth ghoul spread out below him.

“Fuck, oh Lucifer fuck me,” Earth pants, shuddering at Rain’s wrecked voice. “Do you have to say shit like that,” he whines, cheeks flushing in embarrassment. Rain only gives him a toothy grin before pulling his arms over his head, back arching into the stretch. Earth can’t help but look at the lithe muscles, pale skin accented with the silvery lines of old scars and the bright red lines of new ones in the making. His eyes drag from neck down his chest and stomach, along the sparse line of black hair leading to his crotch. His mouth actually begins to water as his eyes lock onto Rain’s cock, dusky red and dripping precome, jutting proudly into the air. His own dick twitches in interest, fire beginning to pool in his gut already.

“I want you inside me,” Rain moans, tilting his head back and running his hands down his neck and over his chest.

“Yes,” Earth hisses, bucking his hips and bringing his hands to Rain’s thighs. His cock is already getting hard again, twitching with the promise of burying himself in the hot tightness of Rain’s ass.

“Got lube,” Rain asks, wrapping a hand around Earth’s prick and stroking him slowly. “Gonna need lube to fit you in me.”

“Fuck… I don’t… ran out,” Earth groans as the water ghoul caresses his dick, hips twitching up into the calloused skin.

“We’ve got some out in the common room, I can—” Rain starts, only to be interrupted by a loud thud that echoes down the hall. He and Earth both still, staring at the door for a heartbeat before they clamber off the bed and sprint for the common room, wondering what the sound was.

They find that the sound was the coffee table being tossed across the room to hit the far wall, clearing a larger space for the two fire ghouls. Some kind of scuffle must have ensued, but as it was Blaze had Ember on his back near the couch, one long, thin leg thrown over Blaze’s shoulders. Blaze held his other leg up and out at the knee, spreading the small ghoul wide as he pounds into him hard and fast. Ember has his claws dug into whatever part of Blaze he can reach, hissing and groaning as he rides the bigger ghoul’s cock, bucking his hips down in time with each thrust.

Rain and Earth are struck motionless at the passionate display, Earth in particular unable to move his eyes from the scene. Rain tilts his head after a moment then moves away, finding the bottle of lubricant they had left on the dining room table, scooping it into his palm and sauntering back to where Earth stands transfixed near the couch. He skates a finger down the tall ghoul’s tail, making him shudder and jerk, dark green eyes now glittering like emeralds with the haze of rut clouding his senses, blinking at him slowly. Rain trills to him quietly, pressing sloppy, open-mouthed kisses to Earth’s chest and neck before sinking to his knees before the couch, facing away from him.

Earth watches, enraptured as the water ghoul leans against the cushions, popping the cap on the lube and squeezing a good amount onto his fingers. Blue eyes capture his gaze, Rain looking over his shoulder as he drags slick fingers down the cleft of his ass to massage at the puckered flesh of his hole, the water ghoul biting his lower lip and letting his eyes flutter shut as he breaches himself with two fingers. He quickly adds a third, scissoring and opening the fingers to stretch himself wide, moaning quietly as he lets his head fall to the cushions at the feeling. When he pulls his fingers free Rain lifts his head to give Earth a sensual grin.

“Gimme that fat cock,” the water ghoul purrs, delighting in the flush that spreads down the tall ghoul’s face and neck. Earth takes a shaky breath before kneeling behind Rain, taking the proffered bottle of lube and coating his cock in slick. He presses in slowly, letting the water ghoul feel every inch of his girth as he fills him. Rain moans as Earth caresses the base of his tail as he bottoms out, hips flush with his ass, feeling his pulse throbbing around the thick cock impaling him. As they wait for him to adjust to the stretch their attention is dragged back over to Blaze and Ember to see the small fire ghoul buck and writhe, jerking himself fast as he comes across his stomach. Blaze grunts as he follows, thrusting inside Ember with a meaty smack of his balls against the smaller ghoul’s hips, collapsing on top of Ember as he goes boneless in the aftermath.

Rain makes a low sound in his throat and shifts his hips back, beckoning Earth to begin moving with a slap of his tail against the tall ghoul’s backside. Earth actually finches as he brings his attention back to Rain, placing his large hands to the lanky ghoul’s hips to anchor him. He goes slow with shallow thrusts, though Rain soon becomes impatient and growls, snapping his hips back and tittering for the tall ghoul to get on with it. Earth huffs before nearly pulling out entirely then slamming forward, picking up a brutal pace that had Rain moaning loud and digging his claws into the cushions. The rut fire engulfs him entirely, focus narrowed down to achingly tight heat of Rain’s ass, his hole red and stretched wide around his cock, to the point where he doesn’t notice when Blaze and Ember join them both till Ember grasps a handful of his hair, pulling his head around to kiss him hard. He moans as Ember thrusts his tongue into his mouth, hips stuttering in their pace as their tongues twine together. Blaze pushes Rain back from the couch till he can slide himself between Rain and the cushions, letting his mate cling to him as he’s fucked hard by the drummer. He purrs and kisses Rain gently, reaching a hand down to stroke his hard cock slowly, whispering filthy words against soft lips.

Between the thick cock fucking him and Blaze lazily stroking his dick Rain cums hard, less falling over the precipice and more like being thrown bodily off of it. His seed dribbles over Blaze’s hand, the subsequent strands spattering across his stomach and dripping to the carpet beneath him. Earth groans loudly as Rain clenches impossibly tight around him, cumming inside him as Ember deepens their kiss, smothering the soft noises the drummer makes with his lips and tongue.

They all collapse together in a sweaty pile on the common room floor, blitzed out on the fog of pheromones thick and cloying in the air.

\--

Rain’s not sure how long its been since he could last think straight; he’s begun to use the coming and going of the rut-fire as an indicator instead of actual time itself. He’s barely able to string a mostly coherent thought beyond the base instinct of the rut, knowing only to work his mouth on whatever is presented to him: lips, skin, nipples, cock, and to spread his legs and move his tail aside so whomever mounts him can enter him without much fuss.

At the moment he’s on his side, right leg held up as Blaze fucks into him slow and languid, fingers pinching and rolling one of his nipples as he mouths at his neck. The sensation of letting his mate take him is glorious, saccharine and fulfilling. He’s left gasping and moaning quietly with each pass of fingers over his nipples and every thrust inside him, eyes lidded as he watches Ember lick and nip at Earth’s chest across from him. Earth had tried to join them but Blaze chose this coupling to be possessive, growling low at the drummer till he backed off. Ember had roused himself and comforted the tall ghoul, pulling him down and clambering over to straddle his hips, leaning down to map out the contours of Earth’s body with lips and tongue.

A scent washes over the four ghouls, sending a collective shiver down their backs and grabbing their attention. Rain is just barely able to lift his head from the carpet to see Mistral standing in the hallway, her jade eyes bright and skin flushed pink as she watches them, clad only in a pair of bikini cut panties and an old, soft t-shirt. Rain watches Ember as his nostrils flare, taking in the heady, almost sweet scent of her heat, lifting his head to blink at her slowly. He moves with a feline grace as he rises from Earth’s prone form, movements fluid and steady yet careful, as if he was worried she’d spook and run. She watches him intently as he walks up to stand before her, reaching a hand out to stroke the tips of his fingers down the side of her neck and over her collarbone, tracing the curve of her breast to rub at the perky bud of her nipple through the fabric of her shirt. They can all hear her quiet intake of breath, then Ember is pulling her close to kiss her deeply, one hand cupping the side of her face while the other continues teasing her nipple. He pulls her with him as he walks back into the room, sinking down to the carpet next to Earth, coaxing the air ghoulette into his lap as Earth leans forward to work his large hands under her shirt.

Blaze rumbles quietly into his ear, hips snapping forward to slam his cock into Rain’s prostate, making the water ghoul gasp and trill sharply. He closes his eyes as Blaze shifts them, pulling out as he pushes Rain onto his back, spreading his legs wide as he thrusts back inside, dropping the slow pace to pound into the water ghoul hard and fast. Rain moans, head falling back as he wraps his legs around Blaze’s hips and clings to his mate as he fucks him, digging claws into the smooth planes of his back.

“Look at me,” Blaze husks, voice a deep rumble as his eyes are alight with arousal. Rain obeys, blinking up at his mate as he’s panting, sweat dripping down his brow in exertion as his thrusts become erratic and he comes close to orgasm. The fire ghoul leans forward to capture Rain’s lips, tongue thrusting inside to twine with his own as he snakes a hand between their bodies to grasp at Rain’s cock.

“Come for me,” he breathes just before he shudders and moans against Rain’s lips as he climaxes, hips snapping into Rain fitfully and his hand clenching around the water ghoul’s cock in reflex. Rain makes a strangled sound as the hand stroking his cock tightens around him, coupled with the warm feeling of Blaze spilling inside him, sends him spiraling down into his own orgasm, spurting hot and sticky onto Blaze’s hand and his own stomach. The old fire ghoul purrs in contentment as he pulls out and lays on his side, pulling Rain in close against him when the water ghoul whines at the loss of his cock in his ass. Rain sighs quietly, mind and body both overly tired with the rut-fire sated for the time being, lapsing into a dreamless sleep.

\--

Before he even opens his eyes, Rain knows that Blaze is gone, feeling cold and lonesome on the common room floor. He shudders and blinks awake, taking a moment to figure out that Earth and Ember were curled together nearby, both ghouls fast asleep. There’s a quiet moan from nearby and lifting his head he spies Mistral on her back with legs spread wide and Zephyr settled between them. The shorter ghoulette bites and sucks at her partners’ nipples and breasts, leaving the imprint of her fangs in the soft tissue. Her hand works deftly at Mistral’s pussy, middle and ring fingers thrusting in and out of her while her thumb rubs tight, teasing patterns across her clit. They must have been at it for some time gauging by Mistral’s labored breathing and the way she shudders and writhes, coming after another minute or so with a strangled gasp, moaning Zephyr’s name quietly in pleasure. Rain watches as the shorter ghoulette extracts her fingers from insider the taller ghoulette, licking at them obscenely as she grins down at Mistral.

“Oh, looks like we have an audience,” she purrs when she notices Rain watching them, tilting her head to give him a toothy grin. Rain shrinks back on instinct, wishing Blaze was there to curl up in to and hide from her predatory gaze. Zephyr laughs quietly, making her breasts and lose blond curls jiggle slightly with the motion. She then crawls over towards him, tail held high and swaying her hips suggestively. She runs a hand up his leg as she goes, giggling at how he flinches away from her touch at first, slowly relaxing into it as she traces up to his thigh.

“Someone seems to have enjoyed the show,” Zephyr giggles, bringing her hand around to run a finger along his half-hard cock. Rain shudders at the delicate touch, groaning softly as the ghoulette straddles him and runs her claws delicately along his inner thighs. The scent of pheromones in the air is heavy, a miasma that clouds his mind with carnal need. He wants her, the scent of her heat nearly driving him mad but he just barely keeps a stranglehold on his control. Zephyr seems to see the internal conflict raging in his mind and gives him a sweet smile, stroking his cock with slow pulls of her hand.

“What’s wrong, don’t you want me,” she purrs, scooting forward and rocking her hips to rub the tip of his prick against her clit. Rain whines quietly, taking a shuddering breath at the feeling of her slick heat against him.

“I-I… yes,” he moans, hips twitching under her ministrations and he bites at his lower lip. He doesn’t know how to explain to her he’s never done _this_ before, in all of the mating frenzies he’s gotten caught in he’s always been the one getting fucked, the other, more dominant males pulling him away and snapping at him whenever a ghoulette would try to mount him. Only the most dominant would get to breed, leaving the submissive ghouls such as himself left to be used and passed around like toys or some delectable treat. He’s half worried that Ember or Earth will wake and intervene, or maybe even Blaze decide to show back up and take Zephyr himself.

“Don’t worry,” Mistral croons, tucking herself against his side and nuzzling at his neck. Rain gives a startled chirp and flinches away on instinct; he hadn’t even noticed that she had moved, so intent on Zephyr was his mind. “We won’t let anyone interfere, you’re ours right now,” she continues, always able to read him like an open book. She nips at his throat as Zephyr lowers herself on his cock and he moans as he’s enveloped in her tight heat, tail thumping against the carpet. Mistral purrs and runs her hands across his skin, tracing scars lightly with her claws and pressing light kisses to the faded silvery lines. Rain bucks his hips up into Zephyr, bringing his hands to grip at her curvy hips as Mistral begins to tease his nipples. He groans, panting for air at the assault from the ghoulettes, the shocks of pleasure from his cock and nipples shorting out his ability to think beyond basic instincts.

“Here,” Mistral hums as she pinches one of his nipples hard, then drags a hand down to grasp at one of his clinging to Zephyr’s hips. “Make her writhe and scream for you, I’ll show you how,” she purrs in his ear as she guides his hand to the front of Zephyr’s pussy, splaying his fingers out and pressing between her folds with his thumb. Zephyr shudders and moans, hips stuttering in their roll as Mistral instructs Rain to rub teasing patterns against her clitoris. She bucks her hips forward to press into his finger, clenching her walls around his cock as pleasure surges through her, head falling back and gasping quiet sounds. Rain increases the speed on his thumb on her clit, rubbing at it in quick, small circles that has the ghoulette writhing in his lap. Zephyr shudders and digs her claws into Rain’s hips as she climaxes, a series of short, gasping moans falling from her lips as pleasure pulses through her. Rain gives a strangled noise as she clenches down on him rhythmically, bucking up into her as he feels himself drawing close to his own orgasm.

“F-fuck,” he groans through clenched teeth, panting as Mistral purrs in his ear and pinches his nipples hard, rubbing her fingertips across the tight bud. She repeats the motion as she drops her head and bites at his collarbone, sucking a bruise onto the skin at the same time. The combined sensations around his cock and nipples, along with the feel of Mistral’s delicate fangs grazing the skin of his clavicle has his orgasm crashing through him, bursting stars across his vision as he jerks and spills inside Zephyr as quiet, half-choked off moans come from his throat.

Mistral strokes a hand down the side of his face as he shudders and goes boneless against the carpet, panting with exertion as he tiredly watches Zephyr climb off his spent cock to flop over next to him. He chirps quietly as he rolls and snuggles up to her, purring as he pillows his head on her generous bosom. She hums and strokes at his hair as Mistral settles in behind him, twining their legs and tails together as they all shift and snuggle till sleep descends.

\--

The worst part of getting caught up, or in his case starting, a mating frenzy is that once the fire is fully sated and fades, all the aches, pains, and injuries sustained over the past few days begin to well and truly make themselves known. Rain whimpers when he wakes, the telltale throbbing in various parts of his body signaling the end of the rut. He yelps when he moves, setting off a series of sharp pains in the lower half of his body.

“Rainy,” Blaze mumbles as the sound wakes him, wrapping his arms tighter around his mate and curling in closer to his back. Rain hisses and flinches, making a low, pained sound at being moved. Blaze lifts his head and blinks blearily at the water ghoul for a few moments before he’s able to shake away the remnants of sleep clinging to him mind.

“Shh, it’s okay, I’ll go find Aether,” he rumbles, petting at Rain’s hair softly before scooting back away from him and rolling to his feet. The other four ghouls are still curled up in a giant pile on the floor, gently snoring as their bodies recuperate from the mating frenzy. He skirts around them as he stretches his arms and legs, letting himself into Aether’s room without knocking. He finds it empty, the bed still made and unslept in. Blaze grumbles quietly and heads to his own bedroom, rooting about till he finds his phone on the dresser and hits the speed dial for Aether’s number, pinning the phone between his ear and shoulder as he collects a pair of pajama pants to slip on. The call goes to voicemail and he sighs, sending a quick text before heading back out to the common room. Blaze finds a spare blanket hiding in a corner and drapes it over Rain before curling around him as gently as he could, murmuring quiet assurances as Rain shudders and keens in pain, hoping his warmth would help relieve even a bit of his aches. He ends up drifting off to sleep, the events of the past nearly two weeks having taken a massive toll on his energy.

\--

Blaze wakes to Aether and Quinn shooing off the other ghouls to their own rooms with hushed whispers, both of them looking to be pretty ragged. Once the common room was clear but for him, Rain, and the two quintessence ghouls Quinn rounds on Blaze, scowling at the old fire ghoul as he stomps closer.

“Give me a good reason _not_ to toss him out of a window,” Quinn growls, glaring at the sleeping lump of blanket that was Rain. “This has been the worst week of my life, thanks to him. Half the fucking church was set off.”

“Quinn,” Aether admonishes the older ghoul, though it’s tired and half-hearted and he moves as if his limbs weighed five times their normal amount. He joins the others on the floor and gently peels the blanket back from Rain’s shoulders, making sure that the bassist doesn’t awaken at the motion. He makes a quiet noise as he takes in the damage: bruises, bite marks, and long half-scabbed lines from claws decorating the water ghoul’s skin nearly from head to toe, and he knows that there’s no doubt more internal damage to go along with it.

“You need to learn to be more careful,” he sighs, gently laying a hand on Rain’s hip and closing his eyes as he concentrates on his healing powers. He almost cringes as a mental image of the internal injuries builds in his minds eye, working on healing those first.

“I would if I could,” Blaze huffs, indignant. “Not like we get much choice when the rut begins.”

“At least try to be more observant of him,” Quinn says, rolling his eyes. “We all know how much of a trouble magnet he is. I mean, fuck, this is going down in the books are the largest, and worst, incident in church history.”

“Nobody died though, right?”

“Almost,” Quinn huffs, pooling his own magic in his hands and beginning to heal the injuries peppering Rain’s throat. “An earth ghoul nearly lost an arm somehow, were barely able to get it reattached in time. Thankfully we cloistered most of the ghouls and kept them from the human clergy. Satan only knows how bad it would have ended if one got to the sisters and brothers.”

Blaze hums, not about to admit he has a vague memory of dismembering a certain ghoul who’d tried, and nearly succeeded, at taking Rain from him. He’ll not apologize for it, none of them have barely any control when rut and heat takes over, the thrill of the chase thrumming through their veins. He’d not been in rut in such a long time that he’d nearly forgotten how the rut-fire burned and seethed, the base instincts taking over nearly all thought till sated. Rain takes that moment of quiet to stir, whimpering softy.

“It’s alright, they’re fixing you up,” he croons, stroking his fingers down the side of Rain’s face. _Mate is here to protect you, don’t worry you’re safe,_ he chatters quietly in ghoulish. The water ghoul lets out a quiet sigh and relaxes in his arms, falling back asleep and letting the two quintessence ghouls work their magic to stitch him back together.

“Wait,” Quinn says, head jerking up and narrowing his eyes at Blaze. “You said ‘mate’? You mated him?”

Blaze shrugs and raises an eyebrow at Quinn. “Yeah, and?”

“That… you can do that? Take another mate, I mean,” Aether asks, curiosity giving his voice a bit more energy. He wasn’t well versed in the workings of mating bonds, and unfortunately there wasn’t much literature or ghouls who wished to explain it for him to learn more. “I thought it was a… permanent thing? Even in death?”

“Don’t look at me,” Blaze grumbles. “Mystical shit isn’t my forte, ask Air sometime.”

Aether sighs and returns to his task, fingers moving slowly up from Rain’s hip to his side, a light tremor going through his back and arms as exhaustion grows with each wound he heals.

“You need to stop,” Quinn growls, pausing his own work to pull Aether away. The younger quintessence ghoul growls a quiet protest but doesn’t have the energy to fight the elder ghoul. “Go to bed, I’ll finish this here.”

“I can—” Aether tries, but Quinn gives him a hard glare.

“No, you can’t. Look, you’re shaking for Christ’s sake,” Quinn sighs, exasperated. “Go on your own or I’m going to carry you to your bed myself.” Aether gives a reluctant sigh before struggling to his feet, swaying slightly as he goes lightheaded for a moment. He grumbles quietly as he shuffles down the hall, not wanting to look back and see the smug look of I-told-you-so plastered on Quinn’s face.

“Right,” the old quintessence ghoul mutters, returning his focus to the injured water ghoul. “You know, they’re really going to push to have him properly summoned after this whole mess is sorted out. They’ll want a bond to keep it from happening again.”

“Won’t happen again,” Blaze rumbles, protectively curling even closer around Rain.

“Sure,” Quinn snorts sarcastically, rolling his eyes as he begins to heal the last of the claw marks on the water ghoul’s hips.

“He wouldn’t make it, anyways,” Blaze sighs quietly, nosing at Rain’s hair gently. He can feel Quinn’s eyes boring into him and makes a sad noise deep in his throat.

“You don’t know what it’s like, the summoning,” he continues, eyes going distant as he remembers the feeling of thousands of sharp hooks piercing his flesh and soul, pulling and stretching him in too many directions till he swears he starts to come apart at the seams. He takes a shuddering breath and pushes the memory away, not wanting to relive the entirety of it. “It’s very… heavy, mentally. Rain can’t handle it. I’ve… I’ve seen what its like in there.” He taps a finger ever so gently against his mate’s temple, making the smaller ghoul snuffle slightly in his sleep.

“Well, you know what Sister will say,” Quinn mumbles pulling his hands away and slumping tiredly against the couch as he’s finished.

“Yeah, yeah, ‘Complete responsibility’, yadda, yadda,” Blaze snorts in a poor facsimile of Sister Imperator’s stern voice. Quinn huffs a tired laugh before he climbs laboriously to his feet.

“Right, please refrain from any further injuries for the next few days,” he grumbles, rolling his shoulders before yawning and stretching out his arms and legs. “We’re all run ragged, anything else you’ll have to go to the infirmary for.” Blaze chuckles quietly and nods, shifting to gather the sleeping Rain into his arms and carry him back to their nest.

“And,” Quinn adds, pausing with his hand on the doorknob to give Blaze a somewhat softer look, “I’m happy for you. For both of you.”

\--

**Epilog**

The winding paths are quiet, the energy flowing around his ankles subdued. Blaze follows the quiet chittering that scratches at the back of his mind, looking for a particular formation of rocks that could be anywhere in the shifting halls. He decides the easiest way to try and search for it would be to track out the clan of water ghouls that guards the sacred pools, starting from near their little village and working his way outward. He doesn’t go too close to the place, not wanting to speak or even see a water ghoul that might be one from the scattered memories he’s glimpsed in shared dreams and nightmares. He wouldn’t trust himself to not leave the whole small settlement in ashes if he did.

Blaze sighs, almost ready to give up when he takes a moment to rest, sitting on a lichen covered boulder and gazing tiredly at a patch of glowing blue mushrooms growing on the far wall. The fey light glitters off something nearby and he goes to inspect it, finding a small rock with a bit of quartz embedded in it that glittered in the dim bioluminescent light. The voice in his head chirps quietly and he follows its directions, striding from the cavern and through a small passageway. In another cavern he comes to what seems to be a collapsed tunnel and the voice chirps again, loud and excited. Grunting, he pushes the larger of the rocks out of the way, clearing enough space so that he can squeeze inside the crevice in the stone wall.

It’s there, covered in a thick layer of dust and dirt but seemingly unharmed, looking just like how he remembered it being. The voice in his head trills and squeaks happily, crooning as he picks up the carved stone bowl. He brushes it as clean as he’s able, disregarding the fact that his black church uniform was now mottled gray and brown with filth, before tucking it under his arm and wiggling back out from the small cave.

He stops before he leaves the small village behind, turning around and heading to the back on a whim. As he thought there was a small plot tucked away from the squat homes, small stone monuments jutting from the soil. He passes through the little graveyard till he finds the marker he was looking for, nothing inscribed on the stone surface but he can feel a small pull at his soul, a connection between the chittering voice and the bones buried beneath the soil. He stands there for some time, glad that though the water ghouls would turn to ritual sacrifice they at least would not desecrate a body, interring it into the soil with the same rites as they would their own.

“ _May I assist you,_ ” an old ghoulette asks, eyeing the shallow stone bowl held under his arm as she quietly approaches him. Blaze notes that her eyes lack the precise color and depth as Rain’s, but it’s close enough that he knows who the ghoulette is.

“No,” he says, keeping his voice devoid of any emotion, but letting the firelight glitter in his eyes as he stares hard at her. “Just doing something for my mate.”

He leaves the small rock he found on the flat edge of the monument, a small offering for the kit buried beneath it.

\--

“Ugh, you stink,” Rain mumbles, wrinkling his nose when he pulls away from Blaze’s mouth. The old fire ghoul snorts, rolling his eyes. The cloying scent of Hell still permeated his uniform, and it would likely take a few washes to eventually get the stench out of the fabric.

“If you’ll get out of bed, I have a surprise for you.” He runs a hand through Rain’s sleep-tousled hair, the water ghoul perking up and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“A surprise? What is it,” he asks, yawning.

“Telling you defeats the purpose of it being a surprise,” Blaze laughs, heading back out into the common room. Rain follows a moment later, having enough sense to drag on a pair of boxers before leaving their room. He finds Blaze leaning against the wall in the dining room, a large box wrapped in brown paper on the table.

“Go on,” Blaze nods at it when Rain gives him a wide-eyed look, then tears his claws through the thick paper to get to the box underneath. He trills when he finds that the box is plain, unadorned cardboard, running his claws around the seams with more care than how he treated the wrapping paper. He slices through the pieces of tape holding the lip on and lifts it up, tossing it to the side before batting away the packing paper underneath. His breath catches in his throat when he unveils the item nestled within the box, hands beginning to shake as he reaches inside to run his fingers gently along the carved edge of the stone.

“How… where…” Rain breathes, gazing up at Blaze, gemstone eyes wide and glittering wetly. Blaze’s heart lurches at the look, driving him to step close and cup his mate’s face with his hands as he presses their lips together, kissing him slow and gentle.

“Lux told me where it was,” Blaze murmurs against Rain’s lips, swiping his thumbs through the tears that spill over Rain’s cheeks. The lanky ghoul shivers and drops his head to Blaze’s shoulder, sniffling quietly as he’s enfolded in his mate’s arms, warm and comforting as he struggles with the tide of emotions that crash over him. Blaze hums quietly, stroking Rain’s hair gently as he sways slightly from side to side as he waits for him to calm.

“Th-thank you,” Rain sniffles, rubbing the tears from his eyes when he eventually lifts his head from Blaze’s shoulder. “I… I didn’t know it… that it… thank you.” He presses forward to slot their mouths together again, sighing in contentment as Blaze deepens the kiss, hot tongue sliding into his mouth. Rain shudders as the familiar heat begins to pool in his gut, soul exalting in having his mate close.

“I love you,” he murmurs against Blaze’s lips, groaning as Blaze’s arms tighten around him, pulling Rain close and grinding up against him.

“Get a room you two,” Zephyr calls as she heads into the kitchen, giving Blaze a salacious grin and a wink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for your comments and kudos, I love them dearly.  
> Also, I usually try to take writing requests over on my tumblr, throw 'em at me as you never know I might write it.  
> https://blacklight-ghoulette.tumblr.com/

**Author's Note:**

> As always, many many thanks for comments and kudos! Once I get this beast done I'll get to go back to working on [Ab Imo Corde Meo](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15544962/chapters/36086130). Blaze and Rain have kinda taken over my brain lately, oops. Feel free to drop me comments or asks on my [tumblr](https://blacklight-ghoulette.tumblr.com/) if you have any questions or anything. I'm always up for chatting.


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